The Fire Within
by mikotyzini
Summary: Years have passed since Blake Belladonna left her teammates behind. It's not until she stumbles across an old flame does she begin to realize the path she took may not have been the correct one. As she tries to fix her mistakes, Team RWBY must try to save Vale from an unknown villain. Bumblebee focused, but some White Rose also included!
1. Chapter 1

**This is my very first RWBY fic! I'm really excited about the story, and plan for it to be pretty long (if I can find time to actually finish writing it). Bumblebee is my main focus, but White Rose will be around, as well. If you don't like those pairings, you don't have to read this! I'm not forcing your eyes to the computer screen, click away, click away!**

**Please review if you like the story, it gives me encouragement to keep writing more, and faster!**

**Also, I don't own RWBY or the characters :(**

Blake Belladonna stood impatiently in line at the checkout counter, looking pointedly at the ground while doing everything in her power to keep her ears still. Of course, her agitation at having to try to keep them still only made them twitch more. She sighed in exasperation. You'd think that since she was a regular at this particular supermarket, she'd be receiving less attention by now.

Her turn to checkout finally arriving, she quickly paid for her groceries and began collecting her bags. It was at this moment that she felt a shift in the room. Attention was no longer being paid to the Faunus girl; someone else had captured the store's attention.

Curiously, Blake looked up, trying to find the person who would garner so much attention. No doubt, it would be some other poor Faunus who had wandered into this human dominated area.

Quickly finding the focus near the front door, Blake gasped at loud as she unconsciously shouted, "Yang!"

Hearing her name, the blonde huntress quickly snapped her head in Blake's direction. Locking eyes, Blake watched as a small flurry of emotions passed through those lilac eyes. Finally settling on an emotion Blake couldn't quite pinpoint…relief, maybe…Yang gave a small smile and wave as she started walking in Blake's direction.

Blake could certainly see why Yang garnered such complete attention from the onlookers. To say that Yang had aged well was…well, a complete understatement. Her blonde hair was still long, wavy, and wild, but now it seemed to have a permanent around the edges. Almost as if it were actually aflame. It looked like her huntress uniform hadn't changed much from their time at Beacon, as she still wore the vest over a crop top, showing off her ample chest. She must have grown another four inches since Beacon, as her short shorts made her legs appear even longer than before. She truly looked like a model, especially with the way her hips swayed as she walked.

Her features had changed slightly though. Once carefree and overly confident, a greater sense of maturity and sophistication could now be seen lurking in her eyes.

Blake exhaled, realizing that she had been holding her breath for far too long. Suddenly, she started to panic as she had no idea what to say to her old partner. Did her heart always beat this loudly?

If Blake had been bothered by the attention before, now every eye in the store was fixated on the two girls, wondering what the famous huntress, Yang Xiao Long, could possibly want with the Faunus girl who came in from time to time.

Stopping a few feet from her, Blake felt the familiar heat wave wash quickly over her body. She closed her eyes for just a second as she savored the familiarity of that little moment. Yang noticed and gave a small smirk, which Blake noted never fully reached her eyes, but was the first to speak nonetheless.

"Fancy meeting you here, Blakey."

Blake flinched at Yang's use of the pet name she had given Blake while at school. She tried to smile in return as she attempted to keep the conversation lighthearted, "I should be saying the same to you, as it's not every day we get to see a famous huntress in this neighborhood. What brings you here?"

Yang scratched her head in a very Yang-like manner before responding, "Oh, well, I was here dispatching some renegade Grimm and…you know…I got really _hungry_ and came here to pick up some snacks!"

Blake laughed as Yang grinned at her. Hearing Yang talk put her more at ease. The Yang she knew was still very much in there.

Slowly, Yang's grin faded as she began looking more and more uncomfortable.

"So…uh…you living in this area?"

Looked at the ground, Blake responded, "Yes." She hoped that Yang would just leave it at that and move on to another subject. There were so many other things that Blake wanted to talk about. She wanted to know all about how Yang's life was going right now. What it was like being a huntress. How Ruby and Weiss were doing. All of the things she was missing out on…

"With him?"

But of course, it was unfair for Blake to think that she could ask about any of those things when there was a giant elephant in the room they needed to deal with first. Sighing, Blake looked off to the side as she answered, "Yes, with him." She couldn't bring herself to look Yang in the eyes, although she could tell that Yang was trying just as hard to avoid eye contact with her.

But never being the one to shy away from uncomfortable situations, Yang gave a small chuckle (or was it a sarcastic scoff?) before nonchalantly saying, "Well, that's cool. How's that going?"

Frowning, Blake decided to answer somewhat honestly.

"It's…different…than I thought it would be." Internally, she rolled her eyes. _Different_ was the nicest way to describe the past three years. Disappointing, frustrating, _heart-breaking_ would have been much more accurate.

"I'm sorry to hear that…" she began, looking truly sorry for the girl, "But uh…I should probably head back now though…don't want to get chewed out again for being late…"

Blake quickly snapped her head up, finding Yang already turning to leave. She felt her throat constrict as her eyes burned with threatening tears. Before realizing what she was doing, she reached out a hand and grabbed Yang's arm, shouting, "No, wait!"

Yang paused, looking at the hand on her arm, which Blake quickly dropped, before turning back towards her. Curiosity filled her eyes, along with pain and…was there a tiny bit of hope in there? No, that was just wishful thinking on Blake's part.

Suddenly feeling rather shy under that gaze, she looked at the ground as she shuffled her feet a little bit. She didn't really know what to say, but she really didn't want Yang to leave so soon. "I was…uh…I was just about to make dinner…so if you're hungry…you're welcome to come over…."

She looked up once the invitation had been made to catch Yang's reaction, which was the epitome of confliction. She couldn't explain why, but she really needed Yang to say yes, more than anything else in her life. She took a deep breath, swallowing her large amount of pride, as she added, "Please, Yang. No one else is at home and I…just…just please let me make you dinner."

Finally making up her mind, Yang resumed her jovial nature in an instant and grinned at Blake. "Ok, ok, no need to beg, Blakey! Just as long as we aren't having tuna fish sandwiches!"

Blake chuckled lightly before asking, "How about just tuna?" causing Yang to burst into laughter.

"God, I haven't had tuna in forever!"

Blake was willing to bet that "forever" had been about three years, since the last time they had eaten it together.

* * *

The walk back to Blake's apartment had been cheerful and light as the former partners began to catch up on what team RWBY had been doing since graduation. From the way Yang told it, she spent most of her time beating up bad guys with Ruby, while Weiss nagged at them from the sidelines.

Reaching her apartment, Blake unlocked the door and flipped on the light switch while gesturing Yang to come inside.

"Sorry, I didn't really expect to have company tonight…" she began, almost apologetically, feeling the somber energy that had come over her friend.

She watched as Yang stepped into the center of the small living room, taking a quick surveillance of her surroundings. A sofa with an accompanying coffee table took up one half of the room, littered with newspaper and magazine clippings of any article that had the word "Faunus" in it. A small, wooden dining table with four wooden chairs was situated close to the kitchen, which was viewable over a bar countertop that was also covered with clippings. And in the corner nearly hidden by the front door was one comfy, worn out chair sitting next to a slender, floor to ceiling bookcase that was bursting at the seams with carefully organized books.

Yang smiled as she turned towards the bookcase. "I can see the one place you spend a lot of time," she said while gesturing towards the beaten up old chair.

Blake chuckled in response as she went into the kitchen to start preparing the food. The blonde huntress walked up to the bar, planting her elbows on the countertop as she closely watched Blake. Feeling the lilac eyes upon her, Blake cleared her throat nervously before asking, "S-so any other interesting developments in Team RWBY…recently?" She felt herself swallow the words "since I left," just in time.

"Yes, actually," Yang began as Blake turned her attention back to the tuna. "Ruby and Weiss are dating now."

"W-What?" Blake managed to squeak out in surprise, looking at Yang incredulously as the blonde-haired girl laughed at her response.

"Yeah, just recently it happened. And you'll never guess who actually had the courage to admit it first," Yang wiggled her eyebrows at Blake as the Faunus girl continued to stare at her, mouth agape.

"No way!" She shook her head vigorously in denial. "There's no way Weiss Schnee confessed to Ruby! Just no way."

Yang nodded enthusiastically. "She totally did! I saw it with my own two eyes," she said as she pointed to her eyes as emphasis.

"Amazing," Blake said as she flipped the tuna in the skillet, still shaking her head in disbelief. She found it very difficult to picture the icy heiress professing her love for the bumbling brunette whom she loved to scold at every possible opportunity. Now, she could see Ruby doing something like that. And Yang…but Weiss seemed too emotionally distant for that.

Breaking up her train of thought, Yang added, "You know, they're actually super cute together now. Weiss still scolds the hell out of her, but it's a little bit…softer…now. Almost like she's only doing it because she cares so much for Ruby and wants to protect her. Well, most of the time, anyway. She is still Weiss after all."

Both girls chuckled as Blake picked up the two plates containing their dinner and walked towards the dining table, motioning with her head for Yang to join her. The blonde eagerly pushed away from the counter and dropped herself into the chair in front of the first plate Blake had set down.

As the two girls began eating, Blake was quiet for a moment, still thinking about Ruby and Weiss dating. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense to her. Weiss had let Ruby get closer to her than anyone else in her whole life. For her part, Ruby and Yang shared the quality of being able to weasel their way closer to people who tried to keep them away. Breaking down walls was their forte. At least, that had certainly been Blake's experience with Yang.

"So," Yang began after not too long, snapping Blake back to the table, "I was sent out this way today because there was a Grimm in the city, like I told you. But recently, someone has been releasing a _lot_ of Grimm all over Vale _all_ of the time."

"Grimm being…_released_…in the city?" Blake narrowed her eyes as she thought about the potential implications behind this.

"Yeah, released. Like someone is scooping Grimm out of the forests and dropping them in the middle of the suburbs or a busy intersection or a school parking lot." Yang's features filled with anger as she spoke, while Blake felt herself filling with concern.

"Has anyone been hurt? Do they know who's responsible?" Blake's mind was working overtime, trying to figure out who would be doing such a thing and any possible motive for doing so.

Yang shook her head forlornly as she set down her fork, now finished with her dinner.

"Several people have been seriously injured, but we have no idea who's behind it or why. As you can imagine, the snow queen is loving not being able to solve this riddle." Yang sniggered at Weiss' plight before continuing. "It's not hard to dispatch the Grimm, you know how easy most of them are."

"But most citizens of Vale aren't trained as huntresses," Blake cut in.

Yang nodded her head, "Exactly. It's getting awfully hard to be everywhere at once."

Her adrenaline was pumping now. God, how she had missed being a part of this world. "Have you thought about splitting everyone up? Covering areas solo so that someone will be able to respond quickly to any attack?"

Leaning back in her chair with a sigh, Yang nodded at her. "That's what we've been doing. Divide and conquer, blah blah. Luckily, Ruby can cover three times the normal area with her speed, but Vale isn't exactly _small_, you know?"

Blake leveled a serious gaze at Yang, locking eyes once again, she felt her heart beat increase, but this time it was from a combination of those lilac eyes and the news she had just been told.

"You have to let me help you," she began forcefully. "One less area to worry about. And I can help find whoever is behind this. You _know_ that I can be useful, Yang."

Yang looked at her with solemn eyes as she slowly began, "Blake…"

At that second, the front door rattled as a key was inserted into the lock and the doorknob turned. Blake felt her heart drop in her chest as the door opened and in walked a tall Faunus with brown hair highlighted in red. Clearly, he wasn't in the best of moods, judging by the way he slammed the door shut behind him and threw the newspaper in his hands towards the mess on the coffee table.

"A-Adam!" Blake stuttered, turning towards him as he finally noticed the blonde girl in the room. She grimaced at the smirk that spread across his face as he recognized who it was sitting at his dining room table.

"Why hello there, blondie," he began as he walked over to them. "What brings you down from your castle tonight?"

The sound of chair legs scrapping across the ground filled Blake's ears as Yang abruptly stood up from the table. Not knowing her own strength, her chair crashed into the wall behind the table and fell to the floor with a loud bang. The temperature in the room also noticeably increased by several degrees.

"I was just leaving, actually, so don't waste anymore brain cells trying to be clever," Yang said coolly as she straightened out her vest and began walking towards the door. She stopped in front of the door, turning her head slightly towards where Blake was still sitting, frozen to her chair by the sudden change in atmosphere. "It was good to see you, Blake."

Adam sneered at the huntress' back as she turned the doorknob and opened the door. "Thank god you dumped this loser of a partner," he directed at Blake.

Yang froze in the middle of the doorway as Blake quickly stood up, knowing the fiery girl didn't exactly have the longest fuse and she would likely need to intervene in the upcoming fight. After a couple of seconds, a scorching wave of heat burst out of Yang, quickly washing over the room and disappearing as the young huntress slammed the door behind her.

The bang of the door made Blake jump. She hadn't been expecting Yang to leave so peacefully after that comment. She glared at Adam as he sniggered. "Oh come on! That was funny!" he said as she shoved by him and out the door. She needed to catch up with Yang.

Thankfully, the blonde huntress had not yet mastered the art of being stealthy, quiet, or low-key. Especially when angry. Blake easily tracked the fireball's trail of heat and scorch marks down to the street, where she could see the glowing of Yang's hair a short way away.

"Yang, wait!" she called out as she ran to catch up with the girl. Yang continued walking away, but thankfully didn't try to run from her.

Reaching out, Blake grabbed Yang's shoulder, but quickly recoiled as Yang's body temperature was scolding hot. Clutching her hand to her chest in pain, Blake felt tears sting at her eyes. "Yang, I'm sorry!" she shouted.

The blonde whirled around, causing Blake to take a step back from the level of heat radiating off of the girl. Yang looked at Blake's hand briefly with concern, so Blake shook it lightly to show that she was ok. Satisfied with this response, concern quickly turned to hurt and anguish.

"Yang…" Blake began, not entirely sure what she could say to take that pain away, but wanting to say something anyway.

"No, Blake," Yang interrupted, shaking her head as she took a step backwards. "Don't try to apologize to me."

"We had a good thing going, Blake," Yang continued, voice cracking with emotion as she threw her hands out to the side as emphasis. "You…me…Team RWBY," she continued, "and you choose that no-good loser who lured you in with promises of changing the world. And guess what? The world hasn't changed a bit. You deserved to be a part of something so much better, Blake."

No longer shouting, tears began to well up in Yang's eyes, but she looked directly at Blake anyway, not embarrassed to show how deeply it had hurt that Blake had left her. "You could have changed the world with us. With me…" she said softly as she dropped her arms to her side, defeat written on her face. She took one last long, shaky breath before she turned away from Blake and began to walk away.

Blake hadn't felt this broken in years…not since leaving Beacon. She wouldn't have thought that it was possible for her heart to break into more pieces, but watching Yang walk away from her was doing just that. She clutched her arms to her chest as the long overdue tears began spilling from her eyes. She couldn't handle this, not again.

"What if that's what I want now? What if I need you now?" she shouted at Yang's back, "A-and Team RWBY…" she added as a wave of embarrassment washed over her, erasing her short spike of courage. She was hoping beyond hope that Yang would turn around, that she would come back and wrap Blake up in a warm hug. That things could return to the way they had been.

She watched with bated breath as Yang paused for a second, before clenching her fists tightly at her sides and looking down at her feet. Her answer was barely more than a whisper, so inaudible that a normal human ear wouldn't have even been able to pick it up.

But Blake's Faunus ears picked up every painful syllable. The words echoed in her head as she watched her former teammate walk out of her life once again.

"I don't think I can handle being your second choice."


	2. Chapter 2

**I hope that everyone likes the premise of the story so far! Please read/review and I will try to find more time to finish this story (which could still be a long way off). Hopefully, it holds everyone over to season 2 though! **

**I don't own RWBY or the characters.**

* * *

Letting the door shut heavily behind her, Yang fought the desire to lay down on the ground right there in the foyer and go to sleep for a long, long time. It might even be worth the scolding from Weiss. Well…maybe not.

Deciding that she could at least reach the sofa in the giant study to the right of the main entrance, Yang clumsily pulled off her boots and trudged over, throwing herself down face first, allowing her right arm and leg to hang off at an odd angle. Moving them just seemed like too much effort right now. Not when her head was swimming with so many conflicting emotions at the moment. When she jumped out of bed this morning, she had not been ready for this day _at all_.

After a few minutes, Yang heard voices coming down the stairs into the front entryway. The next second, she heard a gasp and immediately knew what was coming next.

"YANG!" Weiss shouted shrilly from the foyer, stomping into the study in order to properly scold the girl, trailed silently by Ruby Rose. "How many times do I have to tell you to put your boots into the closet _where they belong_?!"

The girl under scrutiny rolled over on the sofa sluggishly in order to properly face the enraged heiress.

"I think one more time ought to do it," she answered with a weak grin, knowing that Weiss' face would turn an extra shade of red at the response.

Stomping her foot like a child, Weiss yelled "Ugh!" throwing up her arms in exasperation at Yang's insolence.

It was at this time that Ruby decided to step in and try to placate the situation between her older sister and girlfriend before it could escalate into a large argument like it usually did.

"Weiss, I'm sure she has a good reason for just leaving them there…" Ruby looked at her hopefully, while Weiss crossed her arms over her chest and glared her. Yang sighed, realizing that she would need to give them her reason for so flagrantly disobeying general princess etiquette.

"I found her."

The admission came out soft and barely audible, but the meaning behind it rang throughout the room as if Yang had shouted it at the top of her lungs.

She sat up on the sofa, allowing Ruby to quickly take a seat beside her. The young girl threw her arms around Yang's shoulders in a comforting hug. Yang held on to her sister's arm, trying to soak up as much comfort as she could from the young girl.

Hearing a small cough, Yang looked up to see Weiss still standing with her arms crossed in front of them.

"Well it's about time you found her," she stated flatly. "You've only been following every piece of gossip you've heard about a Faunus frequenting an area for _years_ now." Weiss tried to roll her eyes at Yang to underscore her sarcasm, but couldn't quite pull it off. Her slightly furrowed brow gave away her own concern over the missing Faunus girl.

Sighing again, Yang said, "I told her about the Grimm attacks that have been happening and…she said she wanted back on the team."

At this, Ruby gave a small squeal from beside her on the sofa. Weiss shot her a glare that quickly silenced the brunette as she turned back to Yang, regal annoyance back at full power.

"She thinks that we will just let her back in, just like that?" Weiss snapped her fingers before she began pacing angrily across the room. "She hasn't trained with us since Beacon, for crying out loud, and she's not even an official huntress! Plus, for all we know, she could be the one dropping Grimm in the streets in some sort of Faunus independence movement!"

Yang felt anger start to bubble up at that statement and opened her mouth to let Weiss have it, but thankfully Ruby stepped in first.

"H-hey, Weiss, you know that's not true! Blake would never endanger innocent people like that," Ruby stammered as she jumped up to stand between two older girls upon feeling the rise in temperature coming from her sister.

Trying to calm down her aura, Yang closed her eyes and took two calming breaths before responding curtly, "One, Blake would never do that. And two, she was genuinely shocked to hear about the attacks. I don't think anyone could possibly be that good of an actor."

Weiss let out a "tsk" sound as she continued wearing a track into the study floor. "Well, it could be that Adam guy. We know he's definitely not against some Faunus/human violence."

As Yang opened her mouth to respond, she was interrupted by the sound of one of their scrolls beeping to announce a new alert. Weiss quickly strode over to pick the small tablet off the table to read the message, letting out a sigh as she read its contents.

"Another Grimm just got dropped in the middle of the Arroyo district. Beowulf."

"I'll get it!" Ruby yelled as she waved her arm enthusiastically in the air before racing to the hallway closet to retrieve Crescent Rose. Yang couldn't help smiling at her younger sister's enthusiasm as raced out the door.

"Be…" Weiss began, only to be cut off by the sound of the front door slamming as Ruby's semblance carried her outside at lightning speed, a trail of red rose petals left in her wake. Weiss sighed before finishing, "…safe."

"Aww…look at the ice princess, all concerned about my little sister!" Yang cooed as she stood up and sauntered over to the smaller girl, feeling her attitude pick up immensely at the small blush that crept onto Weiss' cheeks.

"S-shut up, oaf," was the only response the proud girl could come up with. As Yang started laughing, Weiss' blush only deepened.

"Doesn't it bother you, all of the random rose petals that get left everywhere?" Yang continued to joke at the other girl's expense.

Weiss looked at the petals littered across the ground, gaze softening slightly as she quietly responded, "I'm actually quite fond of them…"

Yang was so taken aback by the honest reply from the heiress, she couldn't even think of something witty to say in response. Weiss finally noticed what she had just admitted to and quickly picked up her frosty demeanor, throwing up her hands in defeat and stomping out of the room while saying, "Picking up rose petals is much better than trying to get burn marks off of things!"

Yang laughed as she walked into the foyer after the girl. Rose petals did clean up a lot faster than burn marks - that was for sure. They ruined less articles of clothing, as well. Her laughter quickly faded as her thoughts turned back to their ex-teammate.

Truthfully, most of what she had focused on over the past few years was simply _finding_ the Faunus girl. She had never thought to plan out what to do if she found her, mostly because she didn't think Blake could be found. How do you find a ninja in a city the size of Vale? Yang had known that she had to at least try to find her, but why? So that they could become friends again? Teammates? More than that?

But Blake had wanted to come back. That's what she had shouted at Yang as she walked away, so why did Yang keep walking? Yang scrunched up her eyes in an effort to stop all of the thinking and come up with a simple conclusion.

It might actually be pretty nice to have Blake back, she thought to herself as she slowly picked up her boots and tossed them into the hall closet. As a teammate, at least.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to those that have written reviews! I've actually gotten some good ideas from some of you (which is making the story even longer, I believe). We still have a long way to go, so I hope that you're up for ride! Everything will (or should, unless I forget) be explained in due time. I hope everyone enjoys this continuation of the story.**

**I still don't own RWBY or the characters.**

* * *

The next day, Blake sat curled up in her favorite chair with a book open in one hand and a cup of hot tea in the other. Try as she might, she could not get her mind off the blonde haired huntress who had stormed back into her life last night. Realizing that she had just read the same sentence for the fifth time, she gave an exasperated sigh and set the book down in her lap. There was no use in even trying to avoid the thoughts of Yang and her former teammates today.

For the past three years, she had done a decent job of shutting out memories of her time at Beacon. That was one of her skills, after all. Being distant and unattached were two of the traits that had allowed her to survive years in the White Fang.

Beacon had changed all of that. She had enrolled in order to hone her fighting skills and become a huntress. Once a huntress, she would be able to protect others from some of the dangers in the world; she would be able to protect her Faunus brethren, as well.

She had never expected to make friends there. In fact, she had intentionally been keeping a distance from the other students when she first arrived. The last thing she wanted was someone to become a distraction for her. Of course, once they had been forced into pairs, Blake ended up with the biggest distraction of all, Yang Xiao Long.

On Team RWBY, Yang and Ruby had gone out of their way to try to form a closely knit group. Blake had been opposed to this at first, just as Weiss had been, but eventually she found the two sister's appeals to be too overwhelming. They were so sincere and honest that it became increasingly difficult to rebuff them time after time.

After several months, Blake had the first two human friends she'd ever had in her life. Weiss soon came around, as well. A year into their schooling, they were all close friends, which led to the unintended benefit of a startling improvement in their fighting capabilities. For their second and third years, Team RWBY was consistently the best team at Beacon, a fact that had made Weiss exceptionally proud (and sometimes downright unbearable).

Blake smiled, remembering the time Yang and she had intentionally fumbled their parts of a "relay" race in order to let Team JNPR win. Weiss didn't speak to them for an entire week after that.

It was during these last two years of school that Blake felt her relationship with Yang begin to shift slightly. At that time, it had been easy to find other students who would get fed up with their partners at one point or another. Or partners would avoid each other because they "spent too much time together already." Blake had thought that these other students were strange because no matter how much time she spent with Yang, she never got tired of the girl. In fact, she always felt like she didn't spend _enough_ time with her fiery partner. And, strangely enough, the immensely popular Yang seemed to feel the same way.

It had taken Blake a long time, much longer than she'd like to admit, to realize that the feelings she had for her partner ran deeper than just friendship. And when she had realized, she had decided that she could never say anything, afraid of ruining their friendship and the team chemistry.

This had been one of the most difficult decisions in her life. It had been especially hard to adhere too when the object of her affections was becoming increasingly flirtatious towards her. On multiple occasions, Blake had overheard students in the hallway wondering if they _were_ actually a couple. Those comments always brought to live the butterflies that seemed to live eternally in her stomach when Yang was around.

She was still happy and excited to be with her team, although they were all a little unsure of what the real world held for them after graduation. Would they stay together as a team, or drift apart as many hunters and huntresses seemed to do? There were currently no active teams of huntresses, only individuals who worked alone. Weiss was going to be taking several months off to attend to some family business obligations. Ruby and Yang didn't have any real plans other than to "have a blast," as Yang had so eloquently put it.

It was at this time, shortly before graduation when the future was so uncertain, that a surprise visitor had showed up at Beacon. Adam.

Blake had been delighted to see him. She had never really been sure if he had made it off that train alive the last time she had seen him. Without realizing it, she had been harboring a great deal of guilt over maybe having gotten him killed by leaving in the middle of the operation. Seeing him alive and well lifted this unknown burden completely off of her shoulders.

But Adam hadn't come all the way to Beacon just to say hello. He wanted her help. "_Needed_" her help. He said that he was still committed to improving the world for the Faunus race, but through non-violent means. The White Fang had become corrupt and uncontrollable, striking deals to work beside criminals and create a "new world order," and this didn't sit well with him.

She was the only other Faunus he knew that was also committed to non-violence. If they joined together, soon they would be able to recruit others like them. They could form another group to stand against the White Fang, a group that would show humans that not all Faunus were violent criminals.

All of the time spent at Beacon, Team RWBY had talked about how they would be able to save people. Save the world. Save Vale. But Adam was offering something that Blake hadn't even realized she wanted desperately. She wanted to save the Faunus.

So, under that intoxicating haze of saving her race, she had said yes.

She had gone back to the room to tell her teammates that she would be leaving. Even though it was only a few weeks before graduation, she couldn't see a real point in becoming an official huntress anymore. It was only a formality, after all. At least, that's what Adam had said at the time and Blake had wholeheartedly agreed.

Weiss had only said, "You're making a huge mistake," and stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, head turned away from Blake in apparent disgust. Ruby had started crying and said, "If you think it's for the best…" before giving her a long hug. And Yang…well Yang wouldn't even look at her. She only sat on the edge of Blake's bed staring at her hands, which were balled up tightly in front of her.

When Yang wouldn't even acknowledge her as she tried to say goodbye, Blake had become unreasonably angry. Uncharacteristically so. She had shouted at the silent girl that now she could see how Yang truly felt about her. Apparently, they had never been as close as she had imagined, Yang had just been playing with her emotions with all the flirting and "innocent" bits of physical contact. It was such a typical _human_ thing to do.

Blake cringed, that was one sentence she wholeheartedly wished she could take back.

She had then turned on her heel and stalked out of the room, seething in an uncontrollable rage. But Yang had followed her. She caught up to Blake near the front entrance and had grabbed Blake's hand to stop her. Blake had spun around, ready to chew the blonde out some more, only to bite her tongue when she saw the tears in Yang's eyes.

"Please…" Yang had begged her as the tears began to spill over, "Please don't leave. We're partners, remember? If you want to help the Faunus, then I'll help you. Team RWBY can do anything, remember?" She had given a tiny, quivering smile at the end, looking so hopeful that Blake would reconsider.

But Blake was too disillusioned at the time to think through anything properly. Adam's offer had cast a spell so fiercely over her that she could not use think and anger was still clouding her normally astute judgment.

In the face of her tearful partner, she had said, "You could never understand what it's like to be treated differently just because of your appearance. How could you possibly fight for something you could never even truly understand?"

Looking back on this moment, Blake may as well have slapped the girl. It would have hurt her much less than that statement had. It had taken Blake several months to realize that Yang _was_ treated differently just for her appearance. Although it was different from some of the bullying directed towards the Faunus, Blake had personally witnessed many people judge Yang unfairly based solely on the girl's beautiful looks. If only Blake had understood that then…

But Blake had then turned and walked away, leaving the stunned girl behind. As she was walking through the exit, Yang had shouted after her, "But Blake, I love you!"

She had pretended that she hadn't heard her.

Adam had heard the confession as well, and was laughing outside when Blake walked up to meet him. He had said, "Such infatuation from a human girl…I think that's one of the funniest things I've heard in a long time!"

Blake had told him to shut up and tried to seal her heart shut once again.

Blake wiped her eyes on her shirt, realizing that her tears were freely flowing at this point from the memories she had been avoiding for some time now. She was such an idiot. Why hadn't she taken the time to think things through like she normally did? How could she ever have thought it was a good idea to leave her team? Why hadn't she responded to Yang?

All she could remember was how intoxicated she had felt with the plans Adam spun for her. That together, they would be able to conquer the world.

The days after Beacon had been filled with one disappointment after another. While it had initially been nice to be working with Adam again, she soon realized just how difficult a task there was at hand. There were three groups of Faunus: those in the White Fang, those who tried hard not to draw attention to themselves, and those who hid their Faunus traits in order to avoid discrimination. Finding people willing to break out of any of these molds was exceptionally difficult.

Blake and Adam had moved into the little two bedroom apartment, which Adam had dubbed their "HQ." In the past three years, they had been able to recruit several willing Faunus, but nowhere near the amount that would likely be needed to make a real change. They had ended up back at the crossroads the White Fang had found themselves at years ago. Continue on this path of failed peaceful protests, or resort to more violent measures to garner attention.

It seemed Adam had given up a long time ago. Only months removed from Blake agreeing to help him. He would go out for long periods of time "recruiting," but would never have much success to speak of. He always rationalized that it was difficult to find people willing to risk their lives for any cause these days.

Blake had realized her mistake around the same time, but she didn't think she had any other options at this point than to continue down the path she had chosen. She was too proud to try to rejoin Team RWBY, not like they would take her back anyway, after what she did. Even if they were to let her back on the team, she would be far too humiliated with having left them for such a failed cause. Their movement could hardly get out of the grassroots stages.

To top that all off, they were doing just fine without her.

She had been exploring a new part of the city some six months after she would have graduated from Beacon, when she had heard a familiar laugh. Her ears had instantly perked up as she followed the sound towards its owner, and that's where she saw them. Her old teammates.

They seemed like they had gone shopping, judging by the bags that Ruby was carrying (no doubt for Weiss). Ruby and Yang were laughing as Yang seemed to be making a joke at Weiss' expense. The heiress was pouting, but didn't seem to be all that disturbed by the occurrence. In fact, she looked rather pleased by the attention she was getting.

Her heart had constricted tightly at the sight of the three of them walking along so jovially. They were still together. They were still a team. And they were still happy, even without her there.

She had hidden in the shadows as they passed on the other side of the street. She concluded on that day that even if she was able to swallow her pride and ask for their forgiveness, they had already moved on. It was too late.

But that was before the events of yesterday.

Looking around the apartment, she suddenly realized that the most alive she had felt in years had been the hour she had spent with Yang yesterday. Yang's confidence and energy had always spilled over onto her. When Blake was with Yang, she always felt like she could accomplish anything in the world. It was like Yang ignited a fire within her that could never be extinguished, as long as they were together.

At that thought, she jumped up out of her chair, setting the book carefully back in its place on the bookshelf and placing the mug on a small table. She knew what she had to do now.


	4. Chapter 4

**The saga continues...thanks to all of you that are reading and reviewing! It makes my day to hear that other people are really enjoying the story! I'm trying to update this regularly, pending work getting out of hand or some severe writer's block. **

**I don't own RWBY or the characters.**

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"Then, just as he charged me, I ducked under his arm and let loose a super charged ball of flame right into his gut. And FWOOSH!" Yang threw her hands above her head to symbolize a giant ball of flame. "He completely disintegrated! It was SO awesome."

She crossed her arms across her chest and beamed after retelling her most recent Grimm battle, satisfied at the admiration she saw in Ruby's glistening silver eyes. The youngest huntress still idolized her older sister, and Yang adored every moment of the continued admiration.

Weiss…well Weiss was another story. While Ruby held on to every syllable as Yang spoke, squealing or cheering at all of the right times, Weiss just listened with that slight frown of concentration on her face, looking for some flaw in the story. The same expression she was wearing right now.

"That is pretty cool, Yang," she said with only slight enthusiasm.

Yang sputtered in disbelief. "_Pretty_ cool? How is that only 'pretty' cool?!"

"Well…" Weiss began as a faint smile turned up the corners of her mouth. "because it was slightly entertaining, but I do believe that I had the more impressive Grimm kill today."

Yang's mouth dropped open as she stared at the girl in astonishment, before remarking, "What could _possibly_ be better than turning a giant freaking Beowulf into a pile of hot ash, which then blew away with the breeze?"

Weiss arched an eyebrow at the heated girl before slowly responding, "How about…creating a Beowolf ice sculpture, which I then shattered into tiny pieces that finally melted on the sidewalk under the sun?"

Ruby gasped as she heard this, turning those awe filled eyes towards her girlfriend. Yang felt a small growl escape her throat as tiny flames began licking out at her fingertips.

"Wow, Weiss! You actually froze an entire Beowolf?" Ruby gushed, hardly able to conceal her excitement.

The admiration dripping from Ruby's words made Weiss break into something between a smile and a smirk as she responded, "Yes, I did. Frozen through and through." Yang rolled her eyes at the heiress' rapidly inflating ego. Someone needed to pop that bubble, and quickly.

"And when you shattered your Grimm-sicle, did you manage to skewer _all_ or just some of the innocent bystanders with shards of Grimm ice?" Yang asked sarcastically.

"Did you give third degree burns to everyone with your flakes of super-heated ash?" Weiss shot back, both girls now standing several paces from each other with arms crossed.

"Ooook, you two," Ruby said as she stepped in between the two girls, holding both of her hands up. "Both of you are amazing. I can't believe that Yang can disintegrate people and Weiss, you can freeze them solid! Go Team RWBY!"

Weiss rolled her eyes, but backed down from the impending argument. "More like Team RWY now."

As Yang opened her mouth to say something smart in return, most likely about Weiss' height, the three girls heard several knocks on the front door. Ruby quickly shouted, "I'll get it!" and sped to the front door, leaving the other two girls behind.

With the peacemaker gone, Yang didn't feel quite as willing to give up on the nonexistent Grimm Kill of the Day award. She leaned forward and hissed at Weiss, "You _know_ that disintegration is far harder to do than simply freezing someone."

Weiss took a step back, holding a hand to her mouth in fake shock. "You mean that freezing a Beowolf is easy? Oh, why didn't you say so? Why don't _you_ give it a try then, if it's _sooo_ easy?"

Yang scowled at Weiss, who only scowled in return until they heard Ruby shout from the entrance to the house.

"Blake!"

Scowls were quickly replaced by looks of confusion as the two girls hurried to the front door. Upon arriving there, they found that Blake was in fact was there, with one bag sitting by her feet in the doorway and one Ruby Rose wrapped around her like a koala bear.

Seeing the remaining members of Team RWBY enter the room, Blake sheepishly said, "It's good to see you too, Ruby," patting the girl's back awkwardly until Ruby dropped back down onto her feet and stepped backwards, ushering Blake into the house.

Once inside, there was a moment of awkward silence, as none of the four girls knew what they should say, or where to begin. Yang felt her heart rate rising rapidly as she stared at her former teammate. She hadn't thought that she would see Blake again so soon, especially not in her own home. Being this close, she was quickly remembering just how beautiful Blake really was…and how much her heart hurt just thinking about the girl.

Finally, Yang decided that she would break the ice, although she was surprised that the jackhammer of her heart hadn't already done that.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in."

Everyone groaned loudly, with Weiss saying "Really, Yang?" But it worked, lightening the mood in the room immediately. _See, I'm such a genius_, Yang thought proudly to herself before turning her attention back to the new arrival.

"How did you find us?" Ruby asked first.

"Well," Blake began slowly, "Schnee manor isn't exactly one of the most inconspicuous places to live…" Yang noticed a small blush begin to form on Weiss' cheeks at this comment. "Plus, you three are pretty popular now, so people tend to notice where you go. The first person I asked knew exactly where you lived."

"Great deductive skills, as we would expect from our Blakey!" Yang said cheerfully, even though she was having problems keeping memories of their last encounter out of her mind. Yang shook her head, trying to clear out the scenes that were threatening to make a resurgence. She was still angry and heartbroken, but right now she just wanted to be happy to see her former partner again.

Blake flashed her a grateful smile, sending little butterflies all around her rib cage. Yes, she was definitely a little bit happy to see the girl.

Weiss wasted no time asking the question that was on all of their minds.

"What are you doing here, Blake?"

Blake sighed, ears drooping slightly with what appeared to be a great deal of exhaustion. She must have known that that would be one of the first questions they would ask her, after all.

"I…I want to come back," she began, looking intently down at the floor in between them. "I made a huge mistake by leaving. And now Vale is in trouble again. I want to help the people of Vale and…I want to help you guys…"

The three huntresses looked at each other. Yang could already tell that Ruby wanted to say yes, as the youngest fighter was looking at Blake as if she had just found an abandoned puppy. Next, she would turn those pleading silver eyes to them and say "Please can we keep it?" Yang knew that was coming. Ruby had always been quick to give second chances, no matter if the person deserved them or not. Weiss was walking proof of this. The icy girl has said plenty of cruel and hurtful things to her partner, but Ruby always took her back with open arms.

But, for someone who had been forgiven time and time again, Weiss was an unyielding person. And she was definitely against the notion of Blake rejoining the team, which she quickly expressed.

"Absolutely not," she stated flatly. "You didn't graduate from Beacon, so you aren't even a true huntress. Even if we were to say that you spent enough time at Beacon to have the necessary skillset, you haven't trained with us in _years_, which would be an incredible liability going into a battle. And, to top it all off, you _left_ us." Weiss' voice broke slightly on the last sentence, and suddenly Yang realized that the girl was on the verge of tears. So the heiress wasn't frozen solid, after all.

Blake was shocked by Weiss' outburst and subsequent emotion, but as the truth behind the heiress' statements sunk in, she lowered her eyes to the ground in defeat. Yang felt her heart sink at the sight; she didn't want Blake to give up. She didn't want Blake to go. And the Blake she had known would never have given up so easily.

Ruby also frowned at the sight, and, ever the mediator, quickly tried to come up with an acceptable resolution.

"But Weiss," she began frantically, trying to smooth things over before Blake disappeared again, "we could always train together using the situation room here! She'll be up to speed in no time; you know how good of a fighter Blake is."

Weiss frowned, but couldn't find any way to immediately discredit Ruby's statement.

She had spent so much of the last few years trying to hate the girl. She had replayed their last moments together in her head over and over again, but no matter how hard she had tried, she couldn't hate her. Angry? Yes. Heartbroken? Definitely. But she could never hate her. So Yang finally decided that she would rather have Blake here where they could try to regain whatever might be left of their friendship, than to have Blake holed up in some dingy apartment with that even dingier Faunus boy. Plus, at least then she would know that Blake was safe.

"We could use the extra hand," Yang added. "Plus, since we're running solo most of the time, we won't even really need to train together. And I don't think having an official "huntress" title matters when innocent lives are at stake."

Weiss looked at her in surprise, having thought that Yang would be on her side for once. She peered closely at Yang, studying the girl as she thought about what Yang had just said. Yang then realized that Weiss hadn't said what she had solely for herself. The heiress had thought that she was doing what Yang wanted, as well, in keeping Blake away. If Yang didn't want Blake to come back, Weiss was willing to be the bad guy and toss the girl out on her behalf. Yang felt a wave a gratitude for the girl, who had truly become her good friend since they became teammates.

As Yang gave her a slight nod, Weiss sighed, placing two thin fingers to her right temple as an apparent headache set in.

"Fine," Weiss said curtly. "But if you quit on us again, you're out for _good_. Do I make myself clear?"

Blake was now grinning from ear to ear as she nodded and said, "Don't worry, you guys are stuck with me now."

Clapping her hands, Ruby shouted, "Yay! Go Team RWBY! Back together at least!" Striking a pose at the end with one fist held high above her head.

Yang smiled weakly as Ruby wrapped Blake up in another crushing hug (they were sisters, after all). As Blake smiled at Yang over Ruby's shoulder, Yang tried to temper some of her happiness. She quickly told herself that she was only happy because she had a friend and teammate back, _nothing _more. She was not going down that road again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the delay! I've had family visiting from out of town the entire week, plus a little bit of writer's block. :-/ **

**I still don't own RWBY or the characters!**

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Blake woke up the next morning full of excitement for the first time in a very long time. She hopped out of the decadent bed in the oversized bedroom she had chosen and went over to her still unpacked bag to pull out clothes for the day. She could feel her skin tingling with anticipation at what the day could bring. Would she get to fight a Grimm today? She truly hoped so; her combat skills could use a quick dust off.

As she walked out of the connected bathroom, fully dressed and prepared, she heard what sounded like Weiss scolding someone downstairs. What used to make her roll her eyes only made her smile today; some things never changed.

She softly closed the bedroom door behind her as she stepped into the hallway, which sported a railing that overlooked the foyer and front entrance below. At the same instant, Yang came tumbling out of her own room next door, nearly tripping over herself as she tried to put on her boots while still pulling on one sleeve of her vest. Blake's eyes widened in surprise at the girl as she opened her mouth to ask where the fire was.

Before she got a word out, Ruby suddenly appeared below them and looked up at the still struggling Yang.

"I'll answer the first alert today, Yang!" she said cheerily as she waved to her sister, before she shot out the front door, leaving a small cloud of rose petals floating softly to the floor behind her.

Blake turned back to Yang as the blonde haired huntress gave a loud huff of annoyance, taking slightly more time to pull on her boots properly now. No doubt seeing the surprise on Blake's face, Yang said, "I always want to answer the first call of the day, to start the day off right, but Ruby always beats me to it."

"Ahh…" Blake began, trying to act like she understood why the first call of the day was such a big deal to the girl, but she apparently didn't succeed in convincing Yang, who continued, "The person who answers the first call has a better chance of having more Grimm kills for the entire day! Which means that they'll have more kills for the week, which means that they'll have more for the month…" The girl trailed off, seemingly depressed by her train of thought.

"Stop your complaining," came an icy order from below as Weiss now stood in the foyer. "Come eat breakfast before another call comes in and you whine about having to skip a meal again." With that, she stalked off below them, presumably towards the kitchen.

Yang sighed before trudging off towards the stairs, beckoning for Blake to follow her.

"She's just mad because Ruby is beating her in the kill count too," Yang said with a slight grin. "She's right though, you never know when the next call will come in and it sucks to have to run out on an empty stomach."

Blake let out an uncharacteristic giggle. It was just like Yang to worry about food when she had to fight a huge monster.

The two girls joined Weiss in the combined kitchen/dining room area that was nearly twice as large as the apartment Blake had just been living in. After taking a moment to absorb the massive space, Blake decided that it was time for her to gain some background knowledge on how this operation was actually working.

"So, who's calling in the locations to you guys?" she asked as she followed Yang's lead in grabbing a bowl and pouring in some cereal from one of the boxes sitting on the countertop.

"Glynda and Professor Ozpin, of course," Weiss said somewhat derisively, earning a small glare from Yang.

"Oh, I see, so when they're notified of a Grimm sighting, they notify whoever's closest?" Blake sidestepped the attitude gracefully; she was fully expecting much more of that in the future, actually. It wouldn't be fair for her to have hurt feelings after what she had done to them.

"Yup," Yang replied before Weiss could begin her answer. "Which reminds me, we'll have to get you one of our scrolls so that you get notified too. Weiss, do we have an extra one somewhere?" she asked as she turned towards the third girl.

The heiress gave a heavy sigh, clearly not very thrilled about being interrupted while trying to read the paper and eat her breakfast.

"I'm pretty sure my old one is in the closet in the hallway," she lowered her reading slightly to look at Blake and continued, "If you can find it, feel free to use it."

"Thank you…" Blake responded. It was truly going to be an uphill battle to win Weiss' trust and friendship back. It had been a near miracle that they became friends in the first place, and now Blake had to hope for the same miracle to happen twice. She let out a small sigh. That wasn't even the only miracle she was wishing for.

She decided to go find the scroll now so that she could learn how to use it while eating her breakfast. Opening the hallway closet, she looked around for a light switch, quickly finding it on the right hand wall and flicking it on. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she slowly looked around the closet at the shoes that were strewn on the floor, jackets hanging in one corner, Crescent Rose and Myrtenaster leaning against the back wall, and some boxes on shelves towering up to the ceiling. The scroll was likely in one of those boxes, Blake thought to herself as she reached towards the first one before gasping.

"Weiss, Yang, why would Ruby go out without Crescent Rose?" she yelled frantically back towards the kitchen.

"What do you mean? She wouldn't," Weiss snapped as she sauntered out of the kitchen towards Blake.

Blake felt the blood drain from her face as she silently pointed towards the back of the closet. The heiress' eyebrows furrowed as she came over to peer at whatever Blake was pointing at. Upon seeing Ruby's precious weapon still leaning where it had been since last night, Weiss gasped as well.

"She must have forgotten it being in such a rush to beat Yang outside!" she exclaimed, voice filled with terror as she pushed past Blake and grabbed her own weapon, then raced out the front door without another word.

By this time, Yang had come out of the kitchen to see what all the fuss was about. As she watched Weiss fly out the front door, she quickly glanced into the closet, confirmed that Crescent Rose was indeed still sitting there, and took off after Weiss.

"Wait," Blake called out, "I'm coming with you!"

Yang stopped for a half second, turned and threw her scroll towards Blake before racing out the door, yelling behind her, "You have to stay here in case another Grimm is dropped somewhere!"

She sighed, realizing that Yang had a good point. They couldn't all be away from the house if another call came in from another location. There had to be someone to answer that call if it did come in.

_If_ it did.

Since she was stuck here for the time being, she might as well find that other scroll so that she could have her own when everyone returned. She pulled down some of the boxes and placed them out in the entryway to sort through, hoping that everyone would return shortly and that Ruby would be safe and unharmed.


	6. Chapter 6

**And now for the continuation...please read/review/enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.**

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"You could have gotten yourself _killed_, Ruby! Do you realize how bad of a situation you were in?" Weiss continued her never ending rampage of admonishing Ruby as the three girls walked home from their battle, slightly bruised and tired. "What would have happened if Blake hadn't noticed that you had left without Crescent Rose? What would you have done then?"

Ruby stared at the ground as she shuffled her feet forward, clearly embarrassed and ashamed at her forgetfulness. "I would have just kept running around them as fast as I could…" the young girl timidly said, earning a scoff from Weiss before the white haired heiress drew her breath to begin another tirade.

Yang decided that the poor girl had finally had enough and stepped in, saying, "Everything turned out ok, Weiss, so you can lay off her for a little bit."

Weiss glared at her as Ruby looked up and gave her a grateful smile. Yang placed one hand on Ruby's shoulder and gave her an encouraging grin.

"Everyone makes mistakes, baby sis! I think you were doing quite well for the situation you were in. A true improviser!"

Huffing, Weiss turned away from both of them and muttered something unintelligible under her breath as their home came into view.

"What was that, princess?" Yang asked.

Weiss turned towards her, blue eyes flashing, and angrily shouted, "The last thing we need is _another_ improviser on this team!"

Laughing as she walked up the open the front door, Yang said, "You're right. I think that I should be the only one." She added a wink at the end just to ruffle the girl's feathers a little more.

"I wonder if Blake got called out today…" she pondered as she stepped into the house leaving a steaming heiress behind her.

As she walked towards the kitchen, she heard Ruby softly say, "I'm really sorry, Weiss," tears evident in her voice. Yang didn't hear a response from Weiss, so she quickly glanced back as she reached the kitchen, just in time to see Weiss wrap Ruby in a firm hug that was the likely most tender thing Yang had ever seen the icy girl do.

"Aww…" she said softly to herself as she turned to find Blake sitting at the kitchen table, fiddling with her new scroll.

"Aww what?" the Faunus girl asked as she tore her amber eyes away from the new piece of technology and set it carefully down on the table.

"Weiss is being all cute with my sister!" Yang whispered excitedly, in case the two girls had followed her inside by now. She didn't know why, but it made her extremely happy to see Weiss behave so cutely around Ruby. Maybe it was because then she didn't have to confront the girl about mistreating her little sister; although…on second thought, that might be kind of fun too.

She watched Blake's ears twitch slightly as a reserved smile appeared on her face, which was _also_ just too cute for Yang. She quickly looked away as the younger couple walked into the room, now hand in hand. Weiss looked slightly uncomfortable with the attention, but didn't let go even as a faint blush crept on to her cheeks.

"So, Blake, did another call come in today?" Weiss asked as she looked anywhere but at Blake.

"Nope, all was quiet," Blake said. Maybe it was just Yang, but the Faunus girl seemed almost saddened that another monster hadn't been dropped in the city just so that she could go fight it. "But I did find your old scroll in the closet. I think that it's working now too."

"Oh, here I can make sure it's working!" Ruby said excitedly, dropping Weiss' hand as she waltzed over to look at the device. Yang immediately noticed Weiss' look of disappointment at Ruby leaving her side and sent the girl a knowing wink. Weiss' blush grew as she crossed her arms firmly over her chest and looked pointedly away from the now snickering Yang. Teasing her sister's girlfriend just never got old.

As Ruby was playing with the device, it suddenly started making beeping noises as a new message was received. A similar sound was heard from the devices of the other three girls, as they hastily checked to see what the message said.

_Team RWBY,_

_Important development which needs to be shared with you immediately. Please call ASAP._

_-O_

Yang felt her excitement rise after seeing the message. A new development? Maybe they had an idea of who the person responsible for the attacks was. Even better, maybe they had an actual name of someone that Yang could personally visit and make pay for all of her lost sleep and relaxation. The looks on Weiss and Ruby's faces told her that they were thinking the exact same thing.

"Let's go see what Professor O. has!" she exclaimed as she started heading out of the kitchen towards the living room opposite the study, which housed the screen and computers they used to have "strategy meetings" with Professor Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch.

As everyone settled into their normal chairs and sofas in front of the screen, Yang noticed that Blake was looking a little lost, just like a kid at a new school at lunch time. Yang patted the seat of the chair next to her, motioning for the girl to sit next to her as Weiss made the call into Professor Ozpin and Glynda.

The screen came to life after several short seconds, revealing an almost life-size view of their mentors.

"Hello girls," Professor Ozpin began, nodding at them as he looked around the room, eyes finally resting upon Blake.

"Oh, Miss Belladonna. It is really nice to see you back with the team again," he said happily. Maybe it was just Yang, he didn't seem at all shocked that Blake was back. Had he expected this to happen all along? She shook the thought from her head. There's no way he could have predicted this happening, not with how she had abandoned them so long ago.

"A rather…alarming…pattern has developed recently. We will play the video we have for you now."

The girls watched intently as the screen cut to what looked like footage from a security camera placed on the corner of a building, overlooking a large public square with travelers walking every which way. It looked just like any other normal space on a busy day with citizens walking to and fro, some in a great hurry while others took their time. After a few seconds, all four girls jumped in their seats as a Death Stalker suddenly appeared out of thin air in the middle of the square.

"A Death Stalker?" Ruby exclaimed as they raptly watched the scorpion-like creature. It seemed a little dazed when it first appeared on the screen, but gradually seemed to come to its senses. As civilians ran every which direction away from the giant creature, it began snapping its claws and lashing its tail out towards them. They watched for several minutes as the Grimm terrorized the area until they saw a familiar flash of red in the corner of the screen.

"Pyrrha!" Ruby exclaimed as they all exhaled in relief. Thankfully, help had arrived on the scene.

They watched as Pyrrha fired several rapid shots at the Death Stalker to draw its attention. The massive creature swung to face the girl and began charging towards her. When it got close enough, it lashed its tail down at her, just as she rolled under one of its claws, slashing up at it with the edge of her shield.

The strike seemed to do little harm as the Grimm quickly swung around to get her in its sights again. Pyrrha got off several more shots, aiming towards its eyes, before the Death Stalker struck at her with its stinger again. This time, Pyrrha didn't have the time to dodge the attack, so she threw up her shield in order to block it. The force from the strike threw the girl backwards some twenty feet; she crashed into the ground roughly and didn't immediately get back up.

Yang felt her level of concern rising greatly. Glancing nervously to her teammates, she saw Weiss with one hand covering her mouth and Ruby with her mouth hanging open, eyes wide. Blake's ears lay flat against her head and she almost looked…scared. They weren't going to watch Pyrrha bekilled, were they?

"Come on, Pyrrha…get up, get up," Yang muttered to herself as Pyrrha began to lift herself slowly to her feet, but the Death Stalker was already almost upon her. She wouldn't have time to get to safety, so she raised her shield again to block another attack from the creature, which would surely send her flying once again.

As the tail lashed out towards Pyrrha, it suddenly snapped sharply to the side as it was hit heavily by a blur of white and pink. Gun shots were now being peppered into the creature's eyes as they saw Lie Ren appear on the screen. Jaune Arc ran up to grab ahold of Pyrrha's arm, pulling her a safe distance away from the thrashing creature.

Nora appeared out of nowhere again as she landed directly on the Death Stalker's back and gave a quick salute towards Lie Ren. She deftly dodged the stinger as it came down towards her and watched as it clanged harmlessly off of the creature's own back. She grabbed ahold of the creature at the base of its tail, right where it could neither sting her nor easily throw her off. As it widely swung from side to side in an effort to dislodge her, no one could doubt that the girl was having the time of her life.

After several seconds, she finally seemed to get bored of the creature. She used her hammer and quickly swung it straight down onto the creature's back. The force of the blow temporarily flattened the creature against the ground as Nora was catapulted high up in the air. At this precise moment, Pyrrha launched her javelin with pinpoint accuracy to the flying girl, who caught it in mid-air as she began her rapid descent back to earth.

Holding the javelin tip down, Nora crashed into one of the creature's eyes at terminal velocity, forcing the javelin into the Death Stalker's head. She quickly jumped away to safety as the creature began flailing wildly for several seconds, before it finally slowed down and eventually came to a stop. The video feed stopped as Pyrrha walked up and retrieved her javelin.

"Wow," Yang began, her own adrenaline pumping from what they had just seen. "Nora sure knows how to have a good time, doesn't she?"

She grinned at her teammates, who all looked at her with varying amounts of dismay written on their faces. She couldn't help feeling slightly jealous that Nora's team allowed her to be completely crazy and no one batted an eye. If Yang were to jump onto a Death Stalker's back, Weiss would never let her hear the end of it.

Weiss added at that moment, proudly, "Pyrrha is so proficient in combat. Did you see that javelin throw?"

Yang giggled as she watched the girl swooning over Pyrrha's fighting abilities. "Jeez, Weiss, I know you have a massive crush on Pyrrha, but you could at least wait for Ruby to leave the room!"

"I do not have a…c-crush…on Pyrrha!" Weiss yelled as her face grew red. She quickly turned to Ruby in concern. "Ruby, you know I don't have a crush on her, right?" she asked pleadingly, begging Ruby to believe her.

Ruby grinned at the heiress and patted her reassuringly on the shoulder in response. Before she could answer, the four girls jumped as they heard someone clear their throat. They suddenly remembered that Professor Ozpin and Glynda were still there watching them. Ruby and Weiss flushed in embarrassment at the display they had just put on for their former teachers.

"So," Professor Ozpin began now that he had their attention again, "can you tell me what is so alarming about what we just showed you?" Yang liked how even though they had graduated long ago, he still treated them all as his pupils.

"We've only been fighting smaller Grimm so far," Weiss answered immediately, no doubt in an attempt to redeem herself. "How on earth did they get a Death Stalker into Vale without being killed themselves?"

"Good question. One for which we're still searching for an answer…" Professor Ozpin trailed off in deep thought.

"Needless to say," Glynda began when it became apparent that Professor Ozpin was too occupied with his thoughts to continue, "We believe that it's now too dangerous for any of you go into battles solo. Split yourself into pairs, so that you'll at least have one person to watch your back in case you come across a Death Stalker or Nevermore."

"Good luck to all of you. And Blake, it's good to see you back," she finished with a quick glance at the still contemplative Professor before shutting down the communication.

Yang stared at the screen as it faded back to nothing. Forming pairs…she didn't know if she was ready to be partners with Blake again so soon. She had thought that they would just be fighting solo for now, and she would only see the girl when they happened to cross paths in the house. But fighting together meant that they would be spending pretty much all day together…could she handle that proximity without falling for the girl again? Could her heart even handle that emotion anymore?

She turned hopefully to Ruby, but Weiss quickly wrapped her arms around Ruby's waist and said flatly, "Don't even think about it; Ruby's my partner."

Ruby saw the predicament Yang was in, and attempted to help her older sister by saying, "W-well…I could partner with Blake, at least for a little while…"

Weiss pulled away from Ruby as if the younger girl had slapped her. Hurt and betrayal flashed across her face as she said, "Y-you don't want to be my partner?"

Ruby waved her arms wildly in front of Weiss as she tried to backpedal out of the position she had just gotten herself in.

"N-no! Weiss, of course I want to be your partner!" she said, grabbing one of Weiss' hands in her own. "I just thought it could be a good short term solution, but I don't want to be anyone's partner but yours!" Weiss gave a small smile in return, somewhat pacified by Ruby's response.

Ruby looked at Yang apologetically as Weiss pulled her closer, protectively. Yang glared at the heiress, not quite convinced that that little display hadn't just been to get what she wanted.

"Well, looks like we're partners again…"

Yang turned towards Blake, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She briefly wondered if Blake could hear her heartbeat with her extra strength Faunus ears, before forcing a smile she didn't quite feel onto her face and replying a little too cheerfully.

"Fine, fine, I guess it makes sense to pair the _best_ fighter with the rookie!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Enjoy! (can't think of anything else to say)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.**

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The next morning, Yang didn't bother rushing to get ready like she normally did. Now that they were back in pairs, she no longer felt the need to be the first one out for the day. Plus, even if she did get ready quickly, she would have to wait for Blake. And there was no way they'd be able to beat the combination of Weiss and Ruby if they even tried too. With Ruby's speed and Weiss' crazy competitiveness…those two girls would be out the door before Yang could open her eyes.

Once dressed in her trademark yellow tank, brown vest, and black fighting gloves, Yang walked out of her room. She could hear voices coming from downstairs; Weiss and Ruby must already be eating breakfast. Weiss certainly kept Ruby on a strict schedule, Yang thought with a small smile.

She decided against taking the stairs today, instead opting to hop the railing, do a flip in the air, and land with a thud on the floor below. Nailed it.

As she sauntered into the kitchen, she was surprised to find that Blake was already up as well.

"Am I really the last one up?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Of course you're the last one up. You're _always_ the last one." Blake and Ruby smiled at Yang, in silent agreement with the girl.

"Well, it's not easy to look this good all the time!" Yang remarked, full of bravado. She was being somewhat serious though. Managing her hair in the morning could be a major pain in the you-know-what.

As she sat down to begin eating her breakfast, Weiss and Ruby resumed their idle conversation about battle strategies. She contributed to their discussion every once in a while, but she wasn't paying them too much attention. She was much more concerned with the raven haired girl who was silently finishing her breakfast across the table.

She found it incredibly hard to believe that Blake was actually sitting there with them. Eating breakfast as if she'd been doing so for the last three years. Multiple times, Yang caught herself staring at the girl, but she would look away quickly whenever Blake looked up from the paper she was reading. What Yang wouldn't give to know what was going on inside that head of hers…

Yang's scroll interrupted her thoughts as it lit up with a new message. She quickly read it and summarized for her teammates, "Five Beowolves in Evergreen Park. That's pretty close! Who wants to go first?" She looked at Ruby, expecting the younger girl to be speeding out the door already, but the young girl only looked back at her steadily as Weiss took ahold of one of her hands.

"Well…Weiss and I thought that we would let you guys take the first call today."

Yang felt her brow furrow in confusion. They agreed to go second? But she didn't have time to think about that right now, they had to get going. She hopped out of her chair and waved at Blake to follow her as they raced towards the front door.

"Guess I'll be taking the rookie out for a test drive then!" she yelled back at them jovially as Blake and her exited the house at a run. "Too bad it's only a few Beowolves," she added with a slight pout.

"How long are you going to call me that for?" Blake asked curiously as Yang swiftly led her to the top of a nearby building in order to race across the rooftops towards their destination.

"Rookie status until you prove that you can keep up with me!" Yang quipped, turning back to flash Blake a grin. She was really going to enjoy being the senior partner in this pairing. Her grin widened when she saw a flash of black whiz past her on the rooftop.

"So that's the way we're going to play?" Yang chuckled to herself before kicking her semblance into high gear, tearing off in pursuit of the Faunus girl.

Yang became increasingly more serious the closer they got to their destination. As much as she liked to have fun and make jokes, there was nothing to joke about when it came to innocent lives being at stake. Fortunately, she knew that Blake felt the same way from the grim expression the Faunus girl was now wearing.

They quickly made it to the last rooftop before the buildings fell away in favor of the large park. She could now hear the screams and cries of terror from down below as they saw people running out of the park and towards the shelter of the buildings.

Although called "Evergreen Park," it was actually anything but green. While it used to be covered in Evergreen trees, they had steadily been cut back in favor of more open space for sidewalks, fountains, and playgrounds. There were still some trees and several fields for sports activities, but it was mostly just a flat, open expanse of land. The layout was extremely fortunate on this day, as it allowed the two girls to quickly scan the area and locate their targets.

"There," Blake pointed off to the left where two Beowolves were terrorizing a group of people near a large fountain.

Yang squinted as she spotted them before letting out a loud groan. Elderwolves. You could tell that they were Elders because the bony spines on their back were tinted gray in color. And while being older should have slowed them down, it only made these Grimm stronger, faster, and _smarter_. They weren't too tough if you were able to get close to them, but that certainly wasn't everyone's fighting style. She had thought that they were going to get to stomp through some easy _Beowolves_ this morning.

"Who saw these and thought that they were just Beowolves?" she asked incredulously. "You take those two," she ordered Blake. "I'll take that group of three over by the ball field."

She didn't wait for a response as she jumped off of the roof, landing heavily on the ground before she took off running towards the field. She needed to dispatch her three quickly in order to go help Blake with the other two. Yang wasn't sure how rusty Blake would be after a few years out of the game, but getting thrown back in solo against a pair of Elders would not be the easiest test of her skills.

As she sped towards the group of three, she realized that she currently had surprise on her side. The Grimm had rounded up and were currently converging on a group of ball players. She called on her semblance, feeling her heart burst into flames as it rapidly pumped fire into her veins, spreading throughout her body. She saw her fists ignite as raw energy surged through every fiber of her being.

Before the Elderwolves even sensed her presence, she had jumped onto the first one, wrapping her legs around its neck as she fired six rapid shots into the creature's skull at point blank range. He didn't even stand a chance.

She nimbly jumped off of the body as it fell to the ground and began firing shots at the two remaining. They were both racing towards her now, deftly dodging her shots as she alternated shooting at each one. At the last minute, they split apart as one began circling off to her left, while the other circled right.

She cursed under her breath. This is why she hated Elderwolves.

They were now coming at her from opposite sides. She stayed facing forwards, trying to watch them both out of her peripheral vision, hoping for an opening to dodge or attack. They were nearly upon her when she found her opportunity. One of the Elders lunged at her slightly before the other, allowing her to react solely to his attack.

She dodged the first outstretched claw as it flew by her face. Spinning away from the rest of the creature's body in the direction it had lunged from, she quickly fired as many shots as possible, hoping to at least land a hit somewhere. She heard a cry from the creature as its momentum carried it past her, crashing into its partner from the other side.

As the two Elderwolves untangled themselves, Yang flung herself backwards several paces from the two creatures, putting a full field of distance in between them. She fired off more shots as they began racing towards her again. Although one was now bleeding from the shoulder, it didn't seem to slow it down very much.

She risked a quick glance across the park towards Blake, seeing the girl in a ferocious battle with the other two Elders. Blake's shadow clones were swarming all over the place, but Yang didn't know how long she would be able to keep it up. She needed to get to her soon.

She kept firing, waiting for the two to split apart again, but they were getting increasingly close to her and didn't look like they were going to be altering their course anytime soon.

Yang grinned. A head on assault was exactly her style.

She shot forward, racing directly towards them, prepared to meet them in full stride. She watched their strides carefully as she counted down in her head. _Three…two…one…NOW!_

The second the Elderwolves left their feet, she threw herself down onto one thigh as she slid rapidly underneath them. The giant creatures could not react as she slipped underneath their outstretched claws, firing rapidly upward into their exposed underbellies. She heard two loud _thumps_ hit the ground behind her as she lithely popped back onto her feet.

She took a quick moment to collect herself and dust some dirt off of the bottom of her jacket, not bothering to turn around.

Then, she remembered. _Blake_. Yang turned and quickly found the Faunus girl still locked in battle with the two Elderwolves near the fountain. A small wave a relief washed over her as she fired up her semblance once again, tearing towards the continued battle. She needed to get there, and fast. It was evident from the speed and fluidity of Blake's movements that she was being worn down by the never-ending assault by the creatures.

_Please don't try to attack them. Just defend until I get there. _ Yang willed her partner as she bounded across the park as fast as her legs would physically allow her. If only she had Ruby's speed right now.

Twenty feet away, Yang cursed as she watched Blake land a finishing blow on one of the creatures, leaving herself wide open to the counter-attack from the second.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the delay! I just adopted a puppy and she has been taking a lot of my time! If you want to look, I posted a picture on my tumblr (same username). Thankfully, I had written ahead! This chapter is short, but hopefully things return to almost normal soon. Also, I know some of you don't like Weiss; don't hate her! She's good, I swear!**

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Blake realized her mistake too late. She had seen a small opening and thought that she could take down one of the creatures while still having enough time to block the second, but the Elderwolves were much, much quicker than she remembered. As the Elderwolf in front of her began to crumple, she could see the giant claw of the remaining creature hurtling towards her neck out of her peripheral vision.

The next second, she felt something heavy crash into her side, knocking her violently off her feet and to the ground. Blake looked up in confusion as she tried to gather the breath that had just been knocked out of her lungs. Realization dawned on her when she saw Yang climbing back to her feet, clutching her right shoulder. If Blake had been able to breathe, she would have gasped when she saw the blood running through the girl's fingers from four large gashes.

The remaining creature was pacing in front of them slowly, trying to decide the best way to attack the weakened girls. Yang planted herself in between the Elderwolf and Blake like a shield; her aura blazing. Her entire body seemed to be engulfed in a single ball of flame at this point; the heat radiating from her was almost unbearable. The message was clear: the creature would have to go through her first.

Air finally returned to Blake's lungs just as the creature charged at Yang. She quickly got to her feet as Yang spun around the first attack, leaving Blake a clear line of vision on the creature as it tried to spin around and find Yang again. Gambol Shroud quickly found its way around the creature's neck as she yanked it face first into the ground. The next instant, Yang was on top of it, leveling the finishing blows.

A sigh of relief escaped Blake's lips, until she saw the state that Yang was in. The wounds in Yang's shoulder were bleeding freely, staining her brown vest in a much darker, shiny hue. Yang was holding a hand to her shoulder in an attempt to stem the blood loss, but it didn't seem to be doing much good. She needed medical attention.

Blake quickly removed her scarf and rushed over to Yang. She pulled the girl's hand away from the wounds and wrapped her shoulder up as tightly as possible with the material, hoping that it would slow the bleeding at least a little bit.

"Yang, we need to get you to a doctor."

Yang only grinned at Blake in response as she replied, "You mean that we need to get me home!" At that, the blonde hair girl began jogging lightly in the direction they had come from.

Blinking in confusion, she hastily followed Yang. Blake spoke again, her voice rushing out as she became more and more worried.

"You need medical attention!"

"Exactly!" Yang exclaimed happily. "And who better to provide it than my very own little sister?"

Blake couldn't figure out for the life of her how Yang was so calm and jovial when she had what appeared to be_ serious_ injuries, but hoped that Yang knew what she was doing. Besides, the house wasn't far away and Blake had no idea where the nearest hospital actually was. She let Yang set the pace as they trotted towards their home, feeling increasingly concerned as she saw that the wound was still bleeding.

No longer able to stem the panic that was bursting inside of her, Blake finally said something.

"Yang, I'll carry you the rest of the way. Climb on my back."

The girl looked at her dubiously as she continued jogging.

"I can make it myself," she said stubbornly.

"Yes, I know you can…" Blake began delicately, not wanting to bruise the girl's ego. "But it would make me feel a lot better if you let me."

The girl finally acquiesced and did as Blake had ordered. Blake buckled slightly when Yang wrapped her legs around her waist and one arm tightly around her neck. The girl was little heavier than she had expected, but she set off at a pace that had her muscles screaming in no time.

She certainly hoped that Ruby would be at home.

She stumbled up the steps to the mansion, nearly tripping over the last stair in her haste. Thankfully, the front door was unlocked, so she burst in yelling frantically, "Ruby! Ruby, come quick, Yang is hurt!"

A red blur flew down the stairs and stopped abruptly inches from Blake. Weiss rushed down the stairs several seconds later as the youngest huntress was already peering anxiously at the injured girl. Yang said in a voice lacking some of her usual vigor, "That's four more kills for me, and one for the Rook. I'm beating Weiss now." She somehow mustered enough energy to raise her fist up in the air for Ruby to pound it in recognition of her grand accomplishment as Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Follow me," Ruby told Blake as she turned and walked quickly through the kitchen to another room that looked almost like one found in a hospital, although the operating table looked much more comfortable and the walls were a relaxing light lavender color. In one corner of the room, there sat an immaculately made twin bed. It looked especially comfortable, likely where someone could sleep while recovering.

Ruby motioned for Blake to put Yang down on the table, which she quickly did. Tears welled up in her eyes when she saw the blood that had completely soaked the right side of Yang's vest. This was all her fault.

She felt a hand land on her left shoulder. She looked over to see Weiss standing beside her, steel in her eyes.

"You should go clean up. We'll fix her up now," the heiress said sternly.

Blake opened her mouth to protest, but Weiss just shook her head and said firmly, "Go."


	9. Chapter 9

**I probably could have combined this chapter with chapter 8, but I'm trying to keep each chapter from only one point of view. Anywho...I hope you enjoy!**

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As Weiss "asked" Blake to leave the room, Ruby was busy unwrapping the scarf from Yang's shoulder as the blonde sat upright on the table. She winced slightly when the last layer of cloth was pulled slowly away from the gashes it had been sticking to. Tossing away the ruined article of clothing, Ruby motioned for Yang to pull off her jacket. She slowly complied, receiving Ruby's help to try to keep the material from scraping against her wounds.

Now in her tank top, Yang took a quick look down at her shoulder. It didn't look so bad now that her jacket had been removed. As Ruby leaned in to inspect the extent of her injuries, Yang's eyes turned to follow Weiss as the composed girl expertly dashed around the room collecting all sorts of tools and bandages.

"It doesn't look too deep," the young girl said as she began cleaning the wounds carefully with an antiseptic in a spray bottle. "There doesn't appear to be too much damage; they're just bleeders. I can stitch them up and you'll be just fine."

Yang grinned at her diagnosis. With the speed at which she healed, she would be better than new in no time.

"Are you going to use an anesthetic?" Weiss asked quickly as she brought Ruby the first tray of tools.

Ruby looked at Yang questioningly, so Yang shook her head no as she shot a smirk towards the heiress. Anesthetic was for wimps.

Weiss sighed as Ruby motioned for Yang to lay down flat on the table.

"I wouldn't make fun of you for accepting legitimate medical treatments."

"That's what you say _now_," Yang said. She gulped as she saw Ruby pick up a needle to begin her sutures; she really didn't like needles. She quickly looked back towards Weiss, who was now standing with her arms crossed on the opposite side of the table. Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Refusing painkillers but afraid of needles?"

"I'm not afraid of them!" Yang answered hurriedly. "I-I just can't seem to tear my eyes away from your breathtaking beauty right now. Really, Frosty, have you done something different with your hair or something?"

Weiss glowered at Yang in response before Ruby giggled beside her and quipped, "She looks that beautiful every day; she doesn't have to do anything differently."

Yang grinned as she watched the blush emerge on Weiss' cheeks from the compliment. She really hoped that her younger sister knew how much her offhand compliments affected the icy girl. Probably not, though. Ruby could be quite dense when it came to people sometimes, but she was the only one Yang had ever seen leave the heiress speechless.

Weiss' blush deepened when she noticed Yang grinning at her. "Well if you aren't scared of needles, why don't you watch Ruby put in your stitches?" Weiss snapped as she tried to direct the subject away from herself, but there was no way Yang was going to allow her to do that.

"Because, like Ruby just confirmed, you are much more beautiful than mere stiches," she smirked back at the girl. She could tell that Weiss was getting more and more agitated, but the banter was keeping her mind off of the throbbing pain in her shoulder. And the thought of a needle pulling a piece of thread through her skin…she shuddered slightly at the thought.

"And…we're done!" Ruby said happily as she carefully set the needle and leftover thread back on the tray before picking up some bandages to cover the fresh stitches.

"Jeez, Ruby, you're getting really fast at these," Yang complimented the girl as she sat up and finally turned to take in the four lines of neat stitches that now graced her shoulder. Her sister had become quite the little doctor recently. And Yang couldn't be prouder of her.

"I might have used a _little_ bit of my semblance to finish these extra fast…" Ruby gave her sister a big smile before she started placing gauze and bandages on Yang's shoulder, ignoring the look of horror Yang was giving her.

Suddenly, a slim, pale hand appeared right in front of Yang's face, holding two small white pills.

"I'm guessing since you're so _tough_, you won't be wanting these painkillers now, right?"

Yang wrinkled her nose as she thought about whether or not she could deal with the pain before Ruby interrupted.

"As your doctor, I am _highly_ recommending that you take those, Yang."

Yang gave an exaggerated sigh as she took the pills from Weiss and popped them in her mouth, secretly grateful that Ruby had made the decision for her. "Well, if that's what the doctor orders!" she said cheerfully as she swallowed them dry.

Ruby and Weiss now stood in front of where she sat on the edge of the table. Yang raised an eyebrow as she saw Ruby glance at Weiss, then look down at the ground. Something was up with them.

"So…are you going to be ok, Yang?" Ruby finally asked quietly.

Yang started laughing at the question. "As my doctor, I would hope that you would have the answer to that!"

She stopped laughing as both Ruby and Weiss looked at her seriously, neither cracking a smile at her joke. Ruby, with her puppy dog silver eyes, and Weiss, with her stoic light blues, were completely different, but both were seriously concerned for her nonetheless.

Yang sighed, realizing that they wouldn't allow her to humor her way out of this one.

"It's weird having her back…" she began slowly. "It still hasn't quite hit me that she's actually here yet, but I think that it will turn out alright." She realized from the looks on their faces that she wasn't doing a very good job of convincing them.

"I'm fine," she concluded a little more emphatically in an attempt to ease their worries.

"Would you tell us if you weren't?" Weiss asked steadily, blue eyes locked onto her own, as Ruby nodded slightly beside her.

"Of course-" Yang began to reply immediately, but stopped when she saw Ruby frown and Weiss narrow her eyes. She paused to wonder if she would actually tell them if she couldn't handle Blake being around. Looking back and forth between the two girls, she came to the conclusion that they had each risked their lives for her multiple times. They deserved more honesty from her.

"I will," she stated firmly, more for herself now than for them. "I will tell you if I'm not fine with her being here."

Weiss nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer, as Ruby gave her a one shoulder hug. Feeling the atmosphere was a little too serious for her liking, Yang continued, "I know how much Weiss would love to throw her out on the street, anyway. Wouldn't want to deprive her of that."

Ruby giggled as they both turned to Weiss, who looked away from them while muttering, "It's not like I _want_ to kick her out…I just _would_ if you needed me to…"

Ruby continued to giggle as she leaned over and gave her girlfriend a quick kiss on the cheek before adding, "Weiss! You're the sweetest person. We're so lucky you ended up on our team."

Yang smiled and nodded in agreement as Weiss' face lit up with another blush. Maybe it was just the painkillers talking, but she did feel very lucky to count the heiress as one of her closest friends.

Suddenly, she began to feel exceptionally tired. Most likely, the drugs actually were kicking in as her adrenaline from the morning finally wore off. That would definitely explain the warm, fuzzy feelings towards Weiss. She felt her eyes start to droop as she fought against the oncoming exhaustion.

"Ok, you need to get some rest now," Weiss stated authoritatively. Yang wanted to argue with her, but that just seemed like so much effort right now. Plus, some sleep probably would be a good idea. She hopped down from the table, catching herself on the edge as the action made herself instantly lightheaded. Ruby grabbed her good arm and guided her over to their "recovery bed" for some much needed shuteye.

Sleep enveloped her as soon as she felt the soft mattress on her back.


	10. Chapter 10

**I got sidetracked by the newest chapter of Citrus, but I'm back in action now! Please read, review, and have a great weekend!**

**PS don't own RWBY.**

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Blake sat at the kitchen table, head resting in her hands as despair consumed her. She should never have come back to the team. If she had just stayed away, Yang would never have had to partner with her and would never have gotten injured. Yang hadn't even wanted to be her partner, anyway, with good reason.

While she hadn't been completely inactive during the past few years, she certainly hadn't been as active as she had been while a member of the White Fang or while at Beacon. There had never been good opportunities to do battle against Grimm, unless she traveled all the way back to the Emerald Forest. Going there alone just hadn't seemed like the safest idea, at the time.

After Weiss had made her leave the med room, Blake had decided to go change her clothes, which had been covered in Yang's blood. She had then taken a quick shower and gone back to the kitchen to wait in the same place she still occupied.

Having run out of things to do to distract herself, she could not keep her mind away from the thoughts of the day. She replayed the battle over and over again in her head, trying to pinpoint exactly where she had made mistakes. So far, she had come up with a list of at least twenty major things she had done wrong.

The door to the med room finally opened as Ruby and Weiss exited, closing the door softly behind them. Blake scrambled to her feet. "How is she? She's ok, right?" Her eyes quickly shot back and forth between the two girls, looking for the answer.

Ruby gave her a small smile before saying, "Don't worry, Blake, she'll be ok. We stitched her up and stopped the bleeding. The cuts weren't nearly as deep as they seemed. She'll be back up on her feet by dinnertime!"

Feeling relief wash over her, Blake took a couple steps backward until her back was pressed against the wall, sliding down until she could rest her head on her knees. Ruby carefully sat down on the floor next to her and put an arm around her shoulders reassuringly as Blake began crying as the events of the day finally caught up to her.

Weiss quietly passed by the two girls, muttering, "I need to call Glynda and fill her in on the situation…"

Ruby held Blake close as she sobbed, telling her that it wasn't her fault. Blake heard Weiss walk back into the room at one point, but the heiress had quickly exited again without saying a word.

Ruby and Blake sat there for some time, until Blake could find no more tears to shed. The young girl stood up and offered a hand to Blake, who somewhat reluctantly accepted it. Once on their feet, Ruby handed a nearby box of tissues to the sniffling girl as she said, "She's resting right now, but she'll probably be up in a few hours. You should probably get some rest as well, or maybe eat something."

At that moment, Ruby's scroll began to buzz. As she fished out the device to check the message, Weiss poked her head into the kitchen.

"Time to go, Ruby!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Ruby saluted, gave Blake's hand a quick squeeze, and quickly exited the room after her partner.

After trying and failing to force down a little bit of food, Blake had sat at the kitchen table again, staring at the closed door to the med room. She convinced herself multiple times that she should go check up on her partner, standing and walking over to the door, only to back away right before touching the handle. She didn't want to accidentally wake the injured girl up. Or worse, she didn't want Yang to already be awake and yell at her for causing her injuries.

Now she roamed the upstairs hallways of the huge mansion. She hadn't explored much of the building yet, mostly because she was afraid of what her teammates would think if one of them caught her strolling around the place alone. She wasn't dumb enough to play so loosely with their trust so early; even she would admit that it would look a little suspicious. And she hadn't thought to ask one of them for an official tour yet.

She passed by the door to her room and came to a stop in front of Yang's bedroom, peering inside. She didn't want to go in and disturb the girl's privacy, but figured that she could take a look from the hallway since the door had been left open.

From what Blake could see, the girl's living habits had changed little since their time at school. Various articles of clothing were strewn haphazardly about the room, which only served to direct attention away from the tangle of covers on the unmade bed. Across the room, several picture frames resting on top of a chest of drawers caught Blake's attention. Straining her eyes, she was able to make out one that was familiar. It was taken of the four of them plus Penny after Ruby and Penny had won the Vytal Festival in their first year.

Blake chuckled at the memory. Penny had completely obliterated all of her opponents and then refused to fight against Ruby in the finale. Ruby wouldn't fight against someone who wouldn't defend themselves, so the tournament directors had decided to call the Festival in a draw in the first time in the history of Vale. Though Blake believed that they had probably just been happy to end the tournament unscathed, after Yang had nearly burned down the entire stadium in her battle with Nora.

Weiss had been beyond furious at the results.

She turned away from the room and continued down the hallway towards Ruby and Weiss' rooms. Both girls had closed their doors in the morning, so Blake didn't get to look inside, but she couldn't help wondering if the two girls even slept in separate rooms anymore. If not, whose room did they spend most of their time in? She was willing to bet it would be Weiss' immaculate room.

Besides their four rooms, there were many other rooms upstairs that were currently unoccupied. Satisfied that there wasn't much else to be seen, Blake had decided to head back downstairs when she heard the front door open. She descended the stairs to find an exhausted Weiss and Ruby slowly putting their weapons and shoes back into the hallway closet.

"Are you guys ok?" Blake asked, concerned by how gingerly Weiss was moving.

"We're fine," Weiss replied tersely, flinching slightly when Ruby shot her a quick look. She continued in a somewhat softer tone, "We just had to deal with a Nevermore, is all. Stupid giant birds…"

"But we taught him! Didn't we, Weiss?" Ruby said proudly, earning a small smile from the icy girl. "I'm going to go check on Yang real quick. Weiss…why don't you show Blake around a little bit?"

The heiress sighed before slowly replying, "I guess I could do that…"

"You're the best!" Ruby exclaimed, leaning in quickly to give the surprised girl a quick peck on the cheek before disappearing in a cloud of petals.

Blake watched as Weiss briefly closed her eyes and inhaled the smell of roses Ruby left in her wake. Yang was right; Ruby had certainly done a number on the girl. She smiled, but it quickly faded as Weiss turned to her, exasperation radiating off of the girl.

"You don't have to take me for a tour…" Blake said as she involuntarily backed away. She didn't want to make the girl angry by having her do something she clearly didn't want to do.

Sighing again, Weiss replied, "Yes…I do. It will make Ruby happy. So which parts of the house have you already seen?"

"Well…" Blake began slowly. "I've only see the upstairs bedrooms."

Weiss arched an eyebrow at that response, so Blake quickly put her hands up in defense, "I didn't go into anyone's rooms! I was just walking the hallways."

"Ok…" Weiss said slowly, "then let's start right here."

"That room is the study," she began, pointing to the room on Blake's left. "And that is the TV room slash living room" she continued as she pointed to the room on her right. "Ruby and Yang watch a lot of old action movies in there," she added with an eye roll.

Weiss then walked past her, beckoning for her to follow the girl underneath the staircase.

"This is obviously the kitchen," she said as she waved one hand absentmindedly. "And you now know where the med room is."

Yes, she was certainly familiar with the med room now, Blake thought, feeling her heart clench as her thoughts flew back to her injured partner.

"Through the kitchen is what I consider to be the best room in the house." Weiss continued walking without noticing Blake's pause. Walking through an open doorway on the other end of the kitchen, they reached an empty hallway that contained a massive set of double doors directly in front of them.

Weiss walked purposefully up to the doors and pulled both of them open at the same time as she proudly said, "The situation room."

Blake followed the girl into the enormous room, looking around her with her mouth hanging open in amazement.

"Wow, Weiss…" was all she could say as she walked further into the huge empty space.

The situation room was nearly the size of an auditorium; it felt cavernous. In its inactive state, the walls and ceiling were composed of solid black tiles. Tiny seams could barely be seen where the tiles had been carefully fitted together. The floor was composed of similar tiles, only these were a light gray in color. The only piece of equipment that could be seen in the room was a standing panel located right by the front door.

Blake walked over to look at the panel, careful not to touch anything under the heiress' watchful gaze. This was the most hi-tech room she had ever seen.

Weiss walked over to stand beside Blake as she continued, "This room has the best equipment money can buy. You can create multiple different environments and fighting scenarios from this panel. You can summon any Grimm creature that is known to exist, as well as change some of their core attributes: speed, strength, health. You get the idea. And the best part is, it's completely soundproof. Yang and Ruby have definitely tested out that feature more than a few times…"

Blake looked at the girl in awe as she asked, "Can you be injured during a simulation?"

"Well, you can be thrown around quite a bit." Weiss waved her hand dismissively at the question. "But if the Grimm is about to land what the computer calculates to be a lethal attack, the simulation will automatically end. Game over."

Running her hand absentmindedly along the outside of the panel, Blake took in the rest of the room. She had heard that this technology was available, but only to the ridiculously wealthy. She didn't know why it surprised her that Weiss had her very own then; you couldn't get much richer than the Schnee family.

"You can use it whenever you'd like," the heiress said, tearing Blake from her thoughts. "Actually, you probably _should_ use it before you get one of us killed," she added sarcastically.

Blake looked away, feeling the sting from that comment.

"I know…" she said sadly, ears drooping slightly. "I feel awful for what happened to Yang, you know," she added.

Weiss scoffed at her response. "Do you mean what happened to her today or what you did to her at Beacon?"

Blake shrank back from the girl's withering tone and stared at her in shock.

"I'm sorry…" she began, not knowing what else to say in the face of the girl's wrath.

"You should be sorry," Weiss snapped at her, arms now folded across her chest as she prepared to lay into the Faunus girl.

"If you feel awful about seeing her hurt today, then I can't imagine how you must have been feeling for the past few years. Oh, that's right, _you _probably felt nothing because _you_ didn't stick around to see the damage _you_ caused." Weiss jabbed one of her fingers towards Blake's chest as she emphasized each 'you' she spoke.

"Ruby is too forgiving to say anything to you. And Yang has, unsurprisingly, gotten pretty good at hiding her feelings, but I'll tell you what really happened after you left."

"You _broke_ her, Blake," Weiss continued, fire now burning in her eyes. "She wouldn't leave the room for weeks. She skipped graduation; she's lucky she even graduated with all of the classes she missed. It was months before we even saw her smile again. And then, she just wouldn't let go of you. She insisted that she had, but Ruby and I knew better than to believe that. We knew that she was searching for you; everywhere we went she was always searching for you."

"And then, we finally got the distraction we needed. She finally started focusing on something _other _than you, and surprise! You finally decide to show up."

Blake looked at Weiss sadly as the fuming girl finished her tirade. She could feel the moisture building in her eyes and willed herself not to start crying. She took a deep, shaky breath before she began speaking.

"I'm truly sorry for leaving. I really am, Weiss. If I could go back and make another decision, I would! Believe me that was the single biggest mistake I've ever made in my life."

She felt the first tear roll down her cheek as she tried to continue. "I've spent so many days wishing that I could go back to that day….but no matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, I can't change the past. I can't take away all of the pain I've caused. I can only try to make things right going forward."

"I promise you," she said as she looked Weiss in the eyes, "I will not hurt her again. I would rather die than to cause her anymore pain."

Weiss scrutinized her closely as the two girls stood in silence for several seconds. Finally, Weiss slowly nodded her head as she mumbled, "That could be arranged."

Blake managed a wavering smile, until she realized that she wasn't sure if Weiss was actually joking or not. Either way, it seemed like maybe her response was somewhat acceptable to the heiress.

"Come on," Weiss continued in a much softer tone as the fire left her icy blue eyes. "There's one more room I want to show you."

Exiting the situation room through the door they had used to enter, Weiss took a right in the hallway and quickly strode towards a second unimposing door that Blake had failed to notice earlier. Reaching the door, Weiss turned back and motioned for Blake the hurry up. When Blake reached her side, Weiss gently pulled open the door and stood back, waiting for Blake to step through first.

The instant the door was opened, a familiar smell washed over Blake's senses. As she peered inside, she gasped at what she saw. The room was filled with books, lots of them. While nowhere near as big as the situation room, the library was as big as the study, with high ceilings and walls that were covered, floor to ceiling, in bookshelves. Rolling ladders were placed strategically around the room so that readers would be able to reach the books furthest from the ground. Lounge chairs were located in the center of the room with some small tables.

Walking further into the room, Blake closed her eyes, using a few seconds to take in the smells and sounds (or lack thereof) of the room surrounding her. She looked back at Weiss, who was still standing by the door, looking slightly unsure of herself.

"This room is amazing," Blake said as she continued to eye the stacks and stacks of books. She managed to stop herself from racing over to them and pulling out the first one she got her hands on. So this is what a child must feel like when they're in a candy store…

"It's not used very much. Ruby and Yang aren't exactly avid readers, you know," Weiss said. "Except for comic books," she added with a huff.

"So…you can borrow any of the books you'd like read, whenever." Weiss' words came out in one breath, as if she wanted to breeze past the implication of what she had just said.

Blake looked at the girl in shock. She could borrow _any_ of these books? Whenever she wanted to? This was effectively like giving Blake her own private library. Something she had always wished for, but knew she realistically would never have.

"Weiss, thank you!" she exclaimed, unable to control her jubilation. "I think this is the nicest thing anyone has ever offered me!"

A faint blush grew on Weiss' cheek as she quietly muttered, "It's not a huge deal or anything…"

She grinned back at the embarrassed girl. It was a huge deal to her, and that's all that mattered. Weiss grew even more uncomfortable under Blake's gaze and coughed slightly before saying, "I'm going to go prepare dinner with Ruby. It will be ready in about 45 minutes, if you're hungry."

Before Blake even had the chance to respond, the girl had turned on her heel and strode back out of the library towards the kitchen. Blake watched the girl's back until she was gone, before letting out a sigh. Maybe now that Weiss had aired some of her grievances to Blake, she would start treating Blake with a little less hostility. Weiss was just trying to protect Yang. Blake couldn't be angry at her for that.


	11. Chapter 11

**I finally managed to get a decent amount of time to write in peace and quiet today! Thanks to everyone for their reviews and follows. It makes me want to write more so that you guys have more to read! I'm kind of excited to finish the story (a long way from now) and then be able to read the entire thing through at one time. But for now, one more section of the story :)**

**Disclaimer: don't own RWBY.**

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Blake spent the next half hour before dinner roaming through the library, pulling out novel after novel from the bookcases. It would take her an entire year just to read the books she'd picked out from one side of the room! Setting a stack of nearly twenty books onto a small table located by one of the reading chairs, she sat down and slowly went through the pile, book by book. She carefully narrowed down her choices until she was left with just one; this one she would begin reading first.

Satisfied with her choice, she placed the rest of the books back on their respective shelves and left the chosen one on one of the chairs to be started at a later time. She didn't have time to start it now, not if she wanted to be on time for dinner. She didn't want to risk getting on Weiss' bad side once again.

Walking towards the kitchen, she sniffed the air to see what it was they would be eating tonight. Smelled like shrimp and pasta. Not necessarily her favorite meal in the world, but she certainly wouldn't complain.

Blake entered the kitchen to see Weiss standing at the stove, stirring the pasta and shrimp together, as Ruby stood at the counter tossing together a salad.

"Anything I can help with?" she asked.

"You can set the table for us," Weiss said without turning around from her spot at the stove. She gestured over to one side, where Blake assumed the dinnerware was held. She strode over and opened the cabinet door, finding the plates that they needed. The drawer below this cabinet held all of the silverware.

Pulling out four sets of everything they would need to eat, Blake carefully carried them over to the dining table and began setting out the place settings. As she set down the last of the silverware, Ruby brought over her finished salad and Weiss finished up their main course.

"Mmmm…what smells so good?"

Blake spun around at the voice and found Yang standing behind her, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before stretching awkwardly with one good arm. She looked slightly pale and her right arm hung somewhat awkwardly by her side, but other than that, she seemed perfectly healthy. Her trademark food-induced smile was already plastered on her face. Blake felt relief wash over her at the sight of the rapidly recovering girl.

"See, I told you that Dr. Ruby would fix me up!" Yang said triumphantly as she walked past Blake to take a seat at the table, carefully pulling out her chair with her left arm.

"When did Ruby become a medic, anyway?" Blake asked as she took the remaining seat once the other three girls had sat down.

"Ah! That is a good story," Yang replied with a grin. "It all happened when Weiss caught a giant Beowulf claw in the back and needed some stitches. She complained _sooo _much about how much she hated going to the hospital. 'It's too _far_, the doctors are _unqualified_, the rooms are _unsanitary_, the beds are _uncomfortable_, the food is _awful_.'" Blake grinned at Yang's near perfect impersonation of Weiss as she continued, "Ruby decided to spend the next few months endlessly studying trauma procedures so that she would be able to help next time." Yang beamed at her little sister at the end of her story, clearly proud of the young girl's accomplishment.

Blushing, Ruby added, "I wanted to be able to help _you_ too, Yang! I know how much you hate going to the hospital, as well."

At this, Weiss gave a very unladylike snort of laughter. "She just hates getting hit on by all the doctors!"

Feeling a little prick of jealousy as Weiss and Ruby laughed, Blake tentatively asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Weiss shot her a grin as Yang looked pointedly away in embarrassment. "She's a celebrity in the hospital to all of the doctors, male AND female! 'Oh, Miss Xiao Long, how can I help you feel more comfortable? Miss Xiao Long, are you _sure_ you don't want me to check your stitches again? Miss Xiao Long, please marry me and have my little doctor babies.'"

"He did not ask me to have little doctor babies with him!" Yang protested loudly.

"But he _did_ ask you to marry him!" Weiss countered.

"Yeah, Yang, I think that the babies were kind of implied…" Ruby added timidly as Yang sputtered.

"W-well he didn't explicitly _say_ babies!" she shouted stubbornly. "Weiss is just still upset because he said she was the shortest huntress he'd ever met."

Weiss puffed out her cheeks, but Ruby butt in before she could respond. "Size isn't everything, Yang! Weiss more than makes up for her height with her fighting ability."

"I'll remember that the next time Weiss hides the cookies on top of the fridge and you need _my_ help to get them down!" Yang remarked with a sly grin.

Blake listened for the rest of the meal as her three teammates continued on in what seemed to be a perpetual circle. Yang would make fun of Weiss; Ruby would stand up for Weiss; Yang would make fun of Ruby; Weiss would retaliate somewhat harshly at Yang; and, lastly, Ruby would step in and pacify the two girls before a bigger argument broke out.

Watching their interactions filled her with remorse. She tried to remember what her place had been in their circle, if she had even had one. Had she always sided with Yang? Or made fun of Yang? Whatever her place had been, it clearly was no longer there; that void had been glazed over in the years she had been gone.

Shaking her head slightly to clear it of these thoughts, Blake tuned back into the conversation at the table, smiling at their jokes and asking small questions when she was able to get a word in.

As their meal came to an end, Blake stood up first and said, "I'll clean up the kitchen since you guys made dinner," as she picked up her plate and utensils.

Weiss nodded at her silently as Ruby beamed at her and said, "Thanks, Blake!" The two girls stood from their seats and began to make their way out of the kitchen; Blake overheard Ruby asking Weiss if they could watch a movie together as they exited.

Turning to the last remaining person in the room, Blake realized that she still needed to apologize again to Yang. But as she opened her mouth to speak, Yang quickly held her good hand up in the air to silence her.

"I hope you're not planning on saying that you're sorry again," Yang said as she stood up slowly from the table, expression and tone uncharacteristically dull. "Because I think that it could wait until tomorrow."

Blake snapped her mouth shut, swallowing the words that were on the tip of her tongue. She was having a difficult time reading Yang's emotions right now. Was she mad or upset at her? Or maybe she was just tired.

Yang stacked the remaining three plates on the table and carefully picked them up with her left hand before carrying them over to the counter above the dishwasher. Blake tried to take the dishes away from the injured girl, but Yang brushed her off.

"Yang, you should go rest. Don't worry about these; I can finish by myself."

At these words, Yang sighed, looking physically deflated. She quietly replied, "I guess that I could use another quick nap…" and with those words, quickly walked out of the room.

Blake listened intently as she followed Yang's footsteps upstairs and towards her room, finally hearing a bedroom door closing. Satisfied that Yang had actually gone to lay down, she turned her attention back to the task at hand.

After not too long, she had finished putting dishes away and walked softly out of the kitchen. She could hear the sounds of a movie playing from the living room. Quietly creeping over, she peeked into the dark room to see a movie playing on the large screen. On one of the sofas, Ruby was curled up against Weiss' side. Seeing this, Blake silently backed away and snuck up the stairs to her own room. She didn't want to disturb their alone time.

Deciding that she was also quite tired from the day, she thought that now might be a good time to try to get some rest as well.


	12. Chapter 12

**My apologies for the delay! I've been quite busy with...life. *sigh* But I am actually getting a few days off next week, so I hope to get a lot of writing done. *crosses fingers***

**Disclaimer - I don't own rwby.**

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Several hours later, Blake had only managed to get a few minutes of rest, try as she might to calm her mind and fall asleep. Her brain was working non-stop as she tried to analyze every interaction she had had with her teammates so far. She so badly wanted to know exactly what was on their minds and what they were thinking of her, to know if she was even making progress in regaining their trust.

Looking at the clock that was placed on one side of the room, she saw that it was only slightly after midnight. She sighed. She still felt wide awake, even though she should be exhausted from all that had happened in the last few days.

After a few more minutes of fruitless rest, Blake decided that since she clearly wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, maybe some physical exhaustion would allow her to overcome her overthinking brain. Quickly getting changed out of her pajamas and into her combat gear, she snuck out into the darkened hallway; Ruby and Weiss must have gone to sleep after their movie had ended, as the living room was now dark and quiet. Taking the stairs two at a time, she swiftly found herself standing in front of the massive doors leading to the simulation room.

As she opened the doors, the inside of the room lit up one section at a time with a florescent light that burned her eyes at first. Letting the door fall shut behind her, Blake could feel her adrenaline starting to kick in as her eyes finally adjusted to the artificial light. She was excited to see what this room could really offer.

Heading over to the control panel, she tapped it to wake it up. Thankfully, the menu was pretty intuitive as far as selecting what sort of battle she was looking for. With hardly a second thought, Blake set it to spawn two Elderwolves with some default structures as scenery. A rematch of the day was exactly what she wanted right now.

Giant numbers composed of tiny green lights covering the far wall appeared as the computer began counting down the seconds until the Grimm would be generated. She watched in awe as trees, benches, and shrubbery materialized out of thin air around her. She walked over to the nearest tree and put her hand on it: solid. It would definitely be painful to be slammed into.

As the countdown reached zero, she heard a buzzer sound, notifying her that the simulation was now underway. She crouched down in a ready stance as she watched two Elderwolves materialize across the room from her. She couldn't help but stare in amazement as the creatures were crafted, crystal by crystal – they looked completely realistic.

She didn't have more than a couple of seconds to appreciate the technology as the two Grimm were sprinting at her as soon as their last cell had materialized. Her eyes flicked back and forth between the two as they split apart, trying to decide which one she should go after first.

She hesitated as the Grimm on her left disappeared from her vision behind several trees. After a couple of wasted milliseconds, she finally made a decision and set off in a sprint towards the one she could still see. Hopefully, the one she lost track of would circle around and she could catch him before he snuck up behind her.

As she reached the first Elderwolf, she leapt from the ground, unsheathing Gambol Shroud and expertly spinning the end around the creature's neck as she tightly grasped the end of the ribbon. Reaching the apex of her jump, she yanked harshly on the end of Gambol Shroud, hearing the creature cry out as it was yanked backwards into the ground.

Landing silently in a crouch, she quickly turned back to the creature to finish it off, but realized that the second Elderwolf was already rushing past his downed brother towards her. Cursing, she pulled Gambol Shroud back to her as quickly as she could. Leaping to the left, she dodged the first claw that came her way. Feeling her weapon land back in her hands, she hastily split it into two large blades, just in time to block the second attack.

She felt herself fall into a heightened state of focus as she deflected each rapid blow, searching for an opening to attack. But every attack seemed to be coming sooner than the last one, quickly putting her on the defensive. Was it usual for an Elderwolf to be striking out so rapidly?

Too late, her eyes fell briefly behind her opponent to see the empty ground where the first creature had been laying several seconds before. Not a second after she realized her mistake, she felt a large force slam into her right shoulder, throwing her unceremoniously to the grass. The strength of the blow caused her to lose hold of one of her blades, which slid several paces away under a nearby shrub.

She had no time to pick herself back up as both Elderwolves were on her in an instant. She held her one blade up in an attempt to shield herself, but it was no use against two of them.

The room suddenly made a loud beeping noise. The Grimm in front of her froze mid attack, jaws open and drooling as they dove in for the killing blow. She hurriedly scrambled backwards away from the creatures, breathing heavily as her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. Only once she felt confident that the creatures were not going to spring back to life did she feel her heart start to slow.

She shook her head as she retrieved her other blade from the ground before walking back to stare at the frozen creatures, figuring out where she had gone wrong. She had been so focused on blocking the attacks in front of her, she had allowed herself to lose track of one of her opponents. It was most rookie mistake a fighter could make. If she ever wanted to redeem herself, she would have to do a lot better than this.

"You're thinking too much," a voice spoke out suddenly from behind her.

Blake spun around at the comment, unaware that there had been anyone else in the room. She could feel the beginnings of a blush on her cheeks as she watched Yang walk slowly out of the shadows by the door and further into the room. The girl was wearing what were mostly likely her pajamas, a light yellow spaghetti strap top with a pair of light brown short shorts. The clothing perfectly accented all of her curves, only causing Blake's blush to deepen more.

However, Blake couldn't keep her eyes from drifting hungrily over the huntress' form, before finally settling upon the gashes on the girl's shoulder. The wounds had been stitched up nicely, but were still red and swollen. Yang didn't seem to be hurting too badly, but Blake knew that the blonde huntress had a pretty high tolerance for pain, plus was very prideful about not being viewed as "weak."

"You're thinking too much," Yang reiterated as she reached Blake, stopping a few feet in front of her. "And you're not having any fun," she continued as she pointed towards one of the still frozen Elderwolves. "You were thinking so much about how you _needed_ to find an opening that you missed what was going on around you. You need to let your instincts take over more and loosen up!"

Blake frowned as she listened to Yang's critique of her battle.

"Where you watching the entire time?" she asked.

"Yup!" Yang smiled proudly at her accomplishment.

Blake felt her blush intensify as embarrassment overcame her. It was one thing for her to have been "killed" in the simulation, but knowing that Yang had seen the whole thing made it at least ten times worse. Adding insult to injury, the Faunus girl, who prided herself on having acute senses, had never even noticed that the girl had entered the room.

"When did you get so good at blending into the shadows?" she asked. Being sneaky had never been one of Yang's strong suits. And the blonde had never been able to sneak up on Blake before (something she had tried to do more than a few times while at Beacon).

Yang's smile disappeared as she looked away before replying softly, "Since I lost the person who used to do it for me."

Blake felt her ears droop as she looked at the ground. She had not been expecting that response, but there was truth to what Yang said. Blake couldn't even count the number of times her partner had 'requested' Blake sneak up on someone, or in somewhere.

"I'm sorry…" she said meekly, knowing that saying she was sorry probably did little to make her partner feel better.

After a few uncomfortable seconds passed with neither girl speaking, Blake eventually watched Yang's feet move the last few feet between them. As Blake looked up, she resisted the urge to take a step back as Yang put her face close to Blake's, a grin inching its way back onto her features.

"Hey, wanna wrestle?"

Blake raised an eyebrow as she slowly replied, "I don't know, Yang…you're still really injured and I don't want it to get any worse…"

The blonde took a step back and waved her left hand in the air. "Oh, yeah, you're right. It would be pretty embarrassing to lose to an injured huntress." Yang looked at her, violet eyes sparkling with mischief. Blake felt her competitive spirit flare, but she just didn't feel right fighting Yang while she still had stitches.

"I really don't want to be responsible for any more damage," Blake answered, hoping that Yang would drop it and they could both move on from the suggestion.

"Pfft, you couldn't touch me if I had _both_ hands tied behind my back, Rook," Yang said as she continued her provocation.

Blake only shook her head. She knew enough about Yang to know that the girl wouldn't drop the subject now, no matter how much Blake resisted. She may as well agree and get it over with, than to spend more time arguing with the girl. Plus, it might be kind of fun to wrestle with her again. She would just make sure to avoid Yang's injured shoulder as much as possible.

"I was going to let you off easy with your pride, but I guess you're just a glutton for punishment," Blake responded, accepting Yang's challenge.

Yang's only response was a smirk, obviously pleased at having gotten her way. She backed away from Blake as the two girls got into position, crouching slightly as they prepared for their friendly 'wrestling' match.

"Here, kitty kitty," Yang jeered, motioning Blake towards her with her left hand.

Blake scowled.

"Let's see if you can back up all that hot air."


	13. Chapter 13

**Surprise! A double feature tonight! We'll call this a 4th of July present. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, and review!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own rwby. **

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During their time at Beacon, Yang and Blake had made a habit of sparring with each other on a regular basis. They had called them their "wrestling" matches, but they were far from real wrestling. No weapons or semblance use was allowed, but the two girls would go all out after each other regardless. The first one to pin the other won the match and all the glory that came with it.

Most of their matches ended up drawing quite a crowd at the Beacon auditorium. It would become quite a lively event, with wagers being placed on who would win or how long the match would last. With Blake's speed and agility, she was able to lithely escape many of Yang's attacks and strangleholds. However, Yang's strength and endurance were almost never-ending, resulting in a clash that was both evenly matched and entertaining.

They had mostly split their matches evenly, but Yang thought that she had had the slight edge before Blake had disappeared on her. Of course, this match would be quite different with her injured arm and Blake's lack of practice, but she was still confident that she would be able to beat the girl. After all, she had picked up a few new skills in the past few years.

She focused on the Faunus girl crouching slightly a few paces in front of her, arms held up in preparation, ears completely at attention. Blake's amber eyes were focused intently on her own, waiting for her to make the first move. Yang felt the corners of her mouth twitch upward at the familiar sight; oh how she had missed this feeling.

She called upon her aura, but not to use in the fight (that had officially been ruled as 'cheating' some time ago). She watched as her long blonde hair start to take on a life of its own, flickering and flitting like real flames. She'd always liked to add this little flare to their matchups.

Wasting no time, Yang took off, hoping to take Blake off guard by rushing straight towards her. One, two, three strides and she was already upon the Faunus girl, leveling a left hook straight towards her chest. Blake reacted too slowly to completely dodge the attack; her only option was to throw both of her arms in an "x" to block the force of the blow. Yang grinned as her knuckles connected with the girl's wrists and the power of her blow caused Blake to slide backwards several feet.

She straightened her posture and flipped her golden mane back over her shoulder; she could practically feel the swagger dripping off of her as she gave the girl a couple of seconds to recover. There was no need to take complete advantage of Blake's rustiness, after all. She smirked as Blake shook her arms lightly, trying to shake the sting out of them.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Yang couldn't keep the smirk from growing on her face as Blake returned her gaze with a glare.

"I'm just trying to boost your ego a little bit," Blake retorted as she settled back into a ready stance, shaking her arms one last time.

Yang rolled her eyes before taking off in another dash. This time, she veered left, then right, and finally threw in a slight stutter step before trying to land another blow with her left hand. Blake was much more prepared for her this time and easily jumped backwards to dodge the blow. Yang felt herself fly past the girl, having expected her punch to reach more resistance than the air her fist had found.

She quickly put on the brakes, whipping her head around in an attempt to locate the Faunus girl. She briefly saw a flash of black cloth disappear behind her before she felt two boots slam into the small of her back. As she was propelled forward off of her feet, she corrected into a tumble as she hit the ground. Pulling up, she hastily scanned the room for Blake again.

When she didn't see the girl after a half second, she instinctively spun around just in time to block another blow from directly behind her. Yang countered with another left hook followed immediately by a relatively meager (by her standards) right jab, feeling the slight twinge of protest from her still healing injury. Blake blocked both attacks and threw back a few of her own as the two girls traded blows in a ferocious hand to hand battle.

Yang could feel herself rapidly wearing down from the over exertion of her right arm, the slight twinge quickly becoming a more and more searing pain. But with the speed of Blake's attacks, she couldn't rely as heavily on her good arm as she would have liked to. Not if she wanted to win, anyway.

Yang continued to block Blake's incoming blows, stepping backwards with each one, drawing Blake along with her as she tried to come up with a plan to end the fight as soon as possible.

Finally, she feigned like she was going to block the next incoming blow, but at the last second raised her hands up to catch the girl's fist. Using Blake's forward momentum against her, Yang twisted around and carried Blake's arm over her right shoulder. She winced as she felt the girl's weight slam into the back of her injured shoulder, but was able to flip the Faunus girl completely over her back and onto the ground in front of her. Blake let out an "oomph" as she hit the ground.

Yang kept her hands locked around Blake's wrist as she quickly twisted and jumped onto the fallen girl. She sat down straddling the girl's waist and managed to grab ahold of her other arm as Blake swing it up at her, pinning both of Blake's arms firmly to the girl's chest. She leaned forward carefully, using her weight to apply enough pressure to keep Blake from ripping her arms free, but not far enough so that the girl could dislodge her.

"Hah!" she exclaimed, panting heavily from exhaustion. "Got ya."

After struggling for a few more futile seconds, Blake finally realized that she wasn't able to move from her position on the ground. She looked up at Yang with a glare.

"Congratulations," the beaten girl said sulkily.

Yang could feel her happiness bubbling up inside her, along with a little bit of relief. Blake had really had her on the ropes for a few seconds there, not that she would ever admit that. She had beaten the girl fair and square, and with an injury to boot! She couldn't wait to tell Ruby about this.

"Thank you!" she responded to Blake, flipping her hair over her shoulder again while keeping the Faunus girl pinned firmly to the ground. "And what will be my prize for this monumental victory?"

Blake let out a small snort of amusement at that question as she arched an eyebrow at Yang.

"Well, we didn't wager anything, so…pride? Glory? Bragging rights?"

Yang pulled out her best fake pout at that answer. "Aww…you're no fun! Who would want those prizes when they have a beautiful girl pinned under…"

She froze as she heard the words come out of her mouth and saw Blake's eyes widen slightly. Suddenly, Yang found herself back in the gym at Beacon, looking down at a much more irritated Faunus as their fellow students cheered or groaned around them, depending on which partner they had put their money on. It didn't matter the time or the day, Yang had always suggested the same prize when she won:

'Who would want those prizes when they have a beautiful girl pinned underneath them? I think a _kiss_ would be much more appropriate."

Blake had always scoffed at her, saying that the crowd would certainly enjoy that show. Yang had taken that reply as a "no," but certainly would not have hesitated in making a spectacle out of the two of them if Blake had ever agreed.

Looking down at Blake now, Yang watched the blush grow on her cheeks as the girl averted her eyes from Yang. She could feel her heart begin to beat more rapidly as she was flooded with emotions. Suddenly, she felt like she was way too close to her Faunus partner. She could feel Blake's skin far too vividly through the palms of her hands; she could see the silky black hair fanned out beneath her far too clearly; she could imagine those beautiful amber eyes even though they were being directed away from her.

Quickly releasing the girl's arms, Yang scrambled to her feet. Not two seconds later, she was walking rapidly towards the door when she heard the soft, "Yang…" from behind her. Turning slowly around, she found that Blake had also gotten up and was standing uncomfortably where they had just been. The poor Faunus girl's ears were twitching slightly as she looked anywhere but at Yang, her hands fidgeting with the bottom of her shirt.

After waiting several seconds and watching Blake open and shut her mouth several times, Yang concluded that the girl was at a loss for what to say. She decided that she would help them both out of this predicament, if only so that she could put some distance in between them that much faster.

"Bragging rights actually sound pretty good. They'll be telling this tale for years to come!"

She was continuously surprised at how her voice could sound so upbeat when inside she was filled with turmoil.

Blake opened and closed her mouth one more time, glancing quickly at Yang before looking away again. Yang sighed before continuing, "You should get some rest, you know. Tomorrow could be just as eventful as today."

At this response, Blake's ears drooped and Yang felt her heart drop right along with them. The sight had always broken her heart a little bit, and apparently that hadn't changed in all these years. She felt the strong urge to walk over and pull the girl into a firm hug, to make her feel better in any way that she possibly could. She used every ounce of her remaining willpower to turn away from the sight instead, leaving the Faunus girl standing alone in her wake.

With every step she put in between them, she felt a hand tightening around her heart, squeezing more tightly with every breath. As soon as she had passed through the large door to the simulation room and heard it shut behind her, she broke into a sprint, passing quickly through the kitchen and foyer before ripping open the front door. Bursting into the cold night air, she ran from the mansion as fast as her legs would allow her. The rough pavement grinding into the bottoms of her bare feet provided a welcome pain to go along with her internal chaos. She could feel her throat constricting as her eyes burned with the tears that were streaming down her face. She didn't bother to wipe them away as she kept running, wondering how much distance she would need to cover before she could feel her heart beating normally again.


	14. Chapter 14

**And now for a White Rose chapter! I have just felt like writing a little bit of White Rose because they're increasingly capturing my attention in the story. Plus, I know that a lot of people out there won't complain :P At least, I hope not! As always, please enjoy! Leave me a review if you have any comments. I really love hearing what you have to say!**

**I don't own RWBY.**

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Weiss was growing very impatient. Lying in her bed, staring out the large bay window into the darkness outside, she could feel her thoughts beginning to spin more and more quickly as her impatience continued to build with every passing second.

Where was Ruby?

Ruby had been nearly asleep by the time their movie had ended, so Weiss had insisted that they both head to bed. Ruby had complained that she wasn't tired at first, but had eventually acquiesced.

As the girls headed towards their respective rooms, Weiss had given Ruby's hand what she hoped to be a loving squeeze before they separated to head to bed. She still couldn't bring herself to say something sweet or endearing as they parted, but hoped that Ruby was able to understand her feelings through the slight squeeze.

After she had changed into her ice blue pajamas and slipped into her overly decadent bed, Weiss had laid there for several minutes in peace, decompressing from all of the events of the day. She did this every night, going through every word said and action made in order to file away the important moments that she might need to recall later.

But now that she was finished with her daily analysis, Weiss lay there for several more moments in quiet before she glanced towards her door, confusion etching itself on her face.

What was taking Ruby so long?

She would never admit that it was a "routine" or anything of the sort, but she had grown quite…accustomed to…Ruby sneaking in to her room not long after the two girls separated for bed and spending the night with her.

It never took the young girl _this_ long to appear though, she thought as exasperation began to set in.

Not long after they had begun officially dating, Weiss had been startled one night when she was woken by a soft tap on her shoulder. As she peered into the darkness for the source of the disruption, she had found a very bashful Ruby standing by the edge of her bed, hesitantly pulling at the drawstrings on her pajama bottoms while staring at the ground.

Weiss had been immediately concerned upon seeing the girl and had asked, "Ruby, what's wrong? Are you feeling ok?"

Her questions had only seemed to make the girl more nervous, but Ruby had eventually been able to stammer, "I-I couldn't sleep…s-so I thought that, maybe, I could…sleep in here? Maybe."

Weiss had been astounded by the request. Her initial reaction had been to say no, simply because she had never shared a bed with anyone before in her life. She had never had any reason to share a bed. She was an only child, there was never a dearth of empty beds in her family's mansions, and she had never gone to spend the night at anyone else's home.

However, she had thankfully been able to suppress her instinctual response and give a quick nod of her head. She could hear her heart pounding as she had hesitantly pulled back a corner of the covers for her girlfriend to slip underneath, feeling the cool night air slip under the covers as she did.

Weiss could still remember clearly the look of shock Ruby had given her, as she looked from the covers to Weiss and back again, eyes wide as saucers with her jaw hanging open.

"Y-yes? Really? O-oh, ok!" Weiss had felt a pang of guilt at Ruby's reaction; was Ruby really so used to Weiss turning her down? She clearly had not expected Weiss to agree to her proposal. She had made a mental note to try not to reject Ruby so often.

Weiss could swear that her heart stopped beating for several seconds as the young huntress had clumsily climbed into the bed beside her. But once in the bed, Ruby had quickly pulled the covers back up over her, flopped down, and rolled over onto her side, facing away from the now confused heiress.

As she stared at the back of Ruby's head, mouth hanging slightly ajar, she had slowly settled back against her pillow in an attempt to go back to sleep. Quickly, she picked up the sound of Ruby's breathing beside her, a new addition to her normally quiet room. Warmth could also be felt spreading through the covers as the blankets absorbed some of Ruby's body heat, dispelling some of the chill that had crept under moments before.

What was she supposed to do now?

Weiss had little knowledge and zero experience with these types of situations, something that continuously terrified her. A horde of Grimm was perfectly fine; she knew precisely how to handle the creatures. Sleazy businessmen, strict professors, corrupt politicians…Weiss Schnee was highly adept at dealing with any of those people. But the young girl lying beside her terrified her in a way no adversary had ever been capable of.

Maybe it was because she had never cared for another person so deeply, the inexperience scared her. Maybe it was because she had knew very well her own personal failings, and was afraid that one day Ruby would be able to see them as well. Maybe it was because she couldn't read Ruby like she could other people, so there was no way to calculate a perfect response. Maybe it was because she thought that Ruby deserved someone better, and would one day find that person and leave her.

Her insecurities concerning her young girlfriend had no bounds, and Weiss was always able to find a new reason to be afraid of the relationship they were in. Weiss refused to give in to her fear however, because for the first time she actually knew what she wanted in life. Growing up, she had been handed everything, but nothing she had ever truly desired. She had thought that she wanted to become a huntress for superficial reasons, but that merely turned in to an afterthought after she had met Ruby.

So, no matter how uncomfortable or afraid Weiss felt, she always tried to push through her fear and solidify her relationship with Ruby in any way that she could. This, however, was much easier said than done. Weiss found that she failed to show Ruby her true feelings much more often than she succeeded.

Weiss had finally decided what she should do next. But she had moved her arm no further than a few inches towards the younger girl before she quickly drew it back to herself. Ashamed that she once again wasn't able to conquer her fear when it came to Ruby, she spun over onto her own side, facing away from the girl in disgust.

'_I'm sorry_," she had directed towards Ruby, letting out a heavy sigh. If only she could be as open and unrestrained as the young leader.

As she had lain there, berating herself for yet another failing, she had suddenly picked up the sound of the blankets rustling once again. Several seconds later, Weiss had nearly jolted out of the bed entirely as she felt an arm encircle her stomach and a warm presence move closer to her back. Holding her breath, she remained as rigid as a board as her mind exploded with thoughts that she couldn't even begin to make sense of.

After nearly a minute had passed, Ruby had apparently decided that her advance was unwelcome since Weiss' body was still completely frozen in place. Weiss felt the warmth begin to recede as Ruby began withdrawing her arm, murmuring a soft, "Sorry," as she retreated.

Only then had Weiss been able to act as panic began to grip at her chest. She had grabbed ahold of Ruby's hand before the girl managed to pull it completely away. Weiss held on to the young girl's hand tightly, praying that Ruby wouldn't move any further away. She had tried to say something, but no words seemed to be able to make it past her lips. All she had been able to do was hold on to Ruby's hand, squeezing her eyes shut as her heart beat loudly in her ears. If she had messed this up, who knew how long it would take before Ruby would try this again, if the poor girl would even try again at all.

Thankfully, this had been enough of a sign for Ruby, and the brunette had settled back in at Weiss' back, resting her arm carefully around Weiss' stomach. For her part, Weiss had done her best to relax her muscles, breathing deeply in an attempt to calm her nerves and her heartbeat.

Slowly, Ruby's warmth had begun to work its way through Weiss, tiny tendrils of heat that loosened every tense muscle reached. Weiss breathed deeply the slight aroma of roses, a scent that long ago had become a natural relaxant to her. Unfortunately, Yang had since figured this out and dragged Weiss through rose gardens as often as possible; the fiery girl seemed to love the effect the scent had on the heiress, much to Weiss' chagrin.

Before too long, Weiss had been able to relax in Ruby's arms, a feat surprising to the both of them.

That had been the first night Weiss could ever remember when she had felt…warm. And not the superficial surface warmth that one could create with blankets and heaters. She felt that the warmth was actually coming from within her, from within both of them.

It had been the best night's sleep Weiss had had in as long as she could remember.

The next night, Ruby had woken Weiss again, the same as before. Weiss had been surprised, but found it much easier to allow her girlfriend into her bed this time. Her nerves were still rampant, but Weiss fought through them as hard as she could, for she knew that it would be worth it in the end.

Before Ruby had even had the chance to tap her shoulder on the third night, Weiss had said, somewhat impatiently, "You don't need to wake me up every night, you know. You can just get in."

She had pretended not to see the huge grin Ruby had given her as she rolled hastily onto her side so that Ruby could slide into bed behind her.

Now, several months later, she found herself lying there, waiting for Ruby to sneak through her door and into her bed, but the young girl was nowhere to be found. She cursed herself as she tossed under the covers, each passing minute making her more and more annoyed and irritable. She had been fine sleeping alone her entire life; she should be able to sleep perfectly fine with or without her bubbly girlfriend nearby.

But, why wasn't she there?

Could it be that Ruby was angry with her? Weiss felt her heart clench at the thought. Maybe Ruby was upset about something Weiss had said today. It certainly wouldn't be the first time the heiress had said something callous and not realized it until much later. Weiss wracked her brain, trying to find what she could have said to upset her girlfriend so greatly.

After analyzing every conversation they had had that entire day and finding nothing, Weiss finally pushed the covers off of her in a huff and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Feeling her feet hit the plush carpet of her bedroom, she found herself headed towards her bedroom door before a second thought passed through her mind.

However, upon reaching the door, she suddenly became very self-conscious of her actions. What if Ruby was coming over to her room right now? What if she ran into Yang or Blake in the hallway? How would she explain to them what she was doing, sneaking in to Ruby's room late at night? It certainly wouldn't look very innocent to a bystander. And Yang would surely tease her until the end of time if she found out about this.

Weiss stood there, hand frozen a few inches above the door handle, as she waged this internal battle with herself, listening intently for any sounds of movement out in the hallway. After several minutes of indecision, Weiss finally cursed softly under her breath, pulling the door open as quietly as possible.

Quickly creeping the few yards to Ruby's room, Weiss had wasted no time in opening her girlfriend's door, not wanting to increase her risk of being caught by one of her other teammates in the hallway. Once the door was closed behind her, she allowed her eyes several seconds to adjust to the darkness of her girlfriend's room.

Peering towards Ruby's bed, Weiss was able to pick out the shape of Ruby, sound asleep. The brunette had apparently fallen asleep before she had even been able to get under the covers, as she lay curled up on her side in the middle of the bed.

Weiss instantly felt her unease dissipate at the sight. Ruby hadn't been snubbing her or angry with her; she had simply fallen asleep. She was instantly able to breathe a sigh of relief as she slowly approached Ruby's bed.

When she was close enough, she reached out and carefully pulled the covers out from underneath the slumbering girl, who merely mumbled softly in her sleep at the movement. Once that was done, Weiss used as much stealth as possible to slip into the bed beside the girl before pulling the covers back over their bodies.

Weiss now felt her nerves begin to unravel. She had explicitly given Ruby permission to come to her room anytime, but Ruby had never done the same for her. In fact, this was the first time Weiss had ever come into Ruby's room without approval. What if Ruby didn't want Weiss to be in her room? What if she would ask Weiss to leave once she woke up?

She shook her head as she tried to remove some of the insecurity that was creeping into her mind. Those type of thoughts were what kept her from acting the first time Ruby had snuck into her room. She firmly reminded herself that Ruby cared about her, as well, so likely wouldn't reject Weiss in that manner. At least, she hoped that Ruby wouldn't reject her…

Slowly, Weiss scooted towards Ruby, feeling her heart beating more rapidly in her chest. Gently setting herself down right behind Ruby, she nimbly slipped an arm around the girl's waist. She let out an audible breath of relief as she laid her head down on the pillow next to Ruby, please at not having woken the girl.

Her breath must have tickled Ruby's neck, as the young girl moved her head slightly to one side after feeling the irritation. Weiss felt her heart stop in anticipation as Ruby sleepily looked down at Weiss' arm, before craning her neck around to lock eyes with the heiress.

The darkness in the room hopefully kept Ruby from seeing the blush that was blossoming on Weiss' cheeks as Ruby peered back at her in confusion, silver eyes holding the question that was not spoken aloud.

"You were supposed to come over," was the only thing Weiss could think to grumble at that moment.

Confusion quickly turned into an apology as Ruby's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, Weiss, I'm so sorry! I was just so tired from today; I'm so sorry that I didn't wake back up!" Ruby cried, remorse beginning to fill her eyes.

Weiss felt guilt begin to build as she watched Ruby become more and more despondent. She had not meant to make Ruby feel this badly, at all. Thinking quickly, she tightened her grip on the girl, pulling her close enough so that she could lean in and give her a quick peck on the lips, effectively silencing anymore apologies that were about to be issued.

"It's ok now…dunce," she said gently as she rested her head on Ruby's shoulder, feeling content that she would be able to sleep, at last.

It was then that the two girls heard the front door slam with a loud bang downstairs. Weiss gave a heavy sigh, wondering which of their two teammates had just run outside at this hour. She couldn't keep down the small pang of worry that a certain Faunus had already broken her promise and fled from their lives once again, leaving a broken hearted fireball behind.

Ruby gently rubbed her hand up and down Weiss' arm after hearing that sigh, bringing Weiss back from her thoughts while sending small waves of contentment through her.

"Don't worry, Weiss," she whispered softly. "They'll get it sorted out, eventually. I don't think we need to worry about them too much."

Weiss snuggled closer to Ruby in silent acceptance of the girl's words, trying to claim some of her girlfriend's warmth for herself without seeming overly needy. She had believed Blake earlier today, that she would not leave them again, but she still couldn't help being worried for Yang's health. Weiss couldn't imagine the blonde huntress surviving another unexpected separation from her Faunus partner.

Weiss and Yang were surprisingly alike, in this way. It was this similarity that had brought the two girls closer several years ago.

Weiss had grown tired of Yang refusing to attend classes and moping over her lost partner, so she had started in on another harsh lecture about responsibilities, the importance of education, how unreliable the Faunus were, anything that she thought would get through Yang's thick skull.

Of course, Yang had only stared at her with those dull, lifeless eyes as Weiss laid into her. She made no reaction whatsoever, no matter how cruel the words became. The lack of response had only served to infuriate the heiress even more; at least give her some sort of reaction! At this point, even anger would have been a better response than nothing at all.

When Weiss had finally paused for a second to catch her breath, Yang had finally opened her mouth to speak.

"Weiss, what would you do if Ruby was gone?"

Weiss had, of course, scoffed at the question and responded quite haughtily, "I would be _perfectly_ fine with or without her!" But Yang had already lost interest in her and was crawling back up into her bunk bed. Infuriated by the girl's indifference towards her, Weiss had turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, making sure to slam the door as hard as she could on the way out to lend voice some of her fury.

As she stalked off to class, Yang's question kept popping up in her mind again and again.

What would she do without Ruby?

While they hadn't been a couple at that time, Weiss had already become painfully aware that her feelings for their team leader ran far deeper than any she had ever felt before. She tried to imagine a world without Ruby in it, but could not even fathom what that might be like. In fact, she was already looking forward to making it to class so that she could sit down next to her partner and decompress.

Weiss had shrewdly recognized that she could not imagine a world without Ruby in it because, simply, Ruby _was_ her world. If Ruby was no longer in her life, Weiss would cease to exist as she was now. Her world would have effectively been torn apart.

For the first time, Weiss had felt an unfamiliar feeling spread in her chest for the blonde brawler.

Sympathy.

From that moment on, Weiss had ceased lecturing Yang about skipping classes. Instead, she decided to do whatever she could to help the girl succeed in creating a new world for herself, a world without Blake.

She convinced all of their professors (leaning quite heavily upon her last name in some cases) to allow Yang to take her final exams as take home tests. She "grudgingly" leant Yang all of her meticulous notes to study from and quizzed the girl incessantly. She made sure the girl finished all of her tests on time and turned them in to the professors on her behalf. She personally went to Professor Ozpin to petition that Yang graduate with their class, even if the blonde refused to show up to the ceremony.

Yang was going to move on, if Weiss Schnee had anything to say about it.

But now, Blake had returned, threatening the delicate world Weiss had so painstakingly stitched together for her dear friend. If Blake did change her mind and if she did leave again…well, Yang's world had been fragile, at best, before her reappearance. If Blake left again, Weiss didn't believe that anyone would be able to save Yang a second time.

As for herself, she felt immeasurably grateful to have Ruby beside her at this moment. The heiress could no longer imagine life without being able to see Ruby's face every day, and she didn't even want to try to imagine that possibility. She obviously couldn't even sleep one night without the young girl by her side.

"You know," Weiss began, her voice showing far more conviction than she was actually feeling at that moment. "I think that you should just come to sleep in my room when I do every night, instead of sneaking in later."

"R-really?" Ruby stammered in surprise before letting out a nervous giggle. "I think that's a great idea!" she ended, unable to conceal the excitement in her voice.

She didn't have to look up at Ruby to know that the brunette had a maddeningly large smile on her face. She couldn't help a small smile from forming herself. No feeling was more satisfying to the heiress than being able to put a smile on her girlfriend's face.

The two girls fell asleep shortly after that conversation, leading Weiss to this morning, where she currently lay.

As she thought about the girl lying next to her, she couldn't help a feeling of pride growing in her chest. While she knew that she often gave Ruby a hard time, she was immensely honored that Ruby had agreed to be her girlfriend. Now Ruby was going to be staying in her room every night, but Weiss still felt like she wanted more. Witnessing the devastation Yang had been put through, Weiss knew that she would not be strong enough to survive if Ruby ever left. She needed to do something to prove to Ruby how much she meant to her.

Suddenly having an idea, Weiss delicately detached herself from Ruby and began sliding out of bed. Standing, she walked around to kneel down by Ruby's side, leaning forward to kiss the girl gently on the forehead.

As Ruby's eyes fluttered open, Weiss gave her a loving smile.

"Good morning," she whispered. "I have a meeting with my parents, but I'll be back in just a few hours."

"Mmk, Weiss," Ruby replied groggily, giving Weiss a sleepy smile that made her heart flutter. "But don't be gone too long, ok?"

Weiss couldn't help thinking that Ruby looked absolutely adorable when tired. She hesitantly swooped in and placed another kiss directly upon Ruby's lips.

"You know that I'll always rush back to you," she said with a flush, knowing that she was speaking about much more than just her meeting this morning.

Ruby gave her another drowsy grin before she began snuggling back into the covers, eyes already sliding shut.

"And I'll always be here waiting for you…" the young girl mumbled out as she slipped back into her slumber.

Face blushing from her girlfriend's candid response, Weiss hastily stood up, straightening her pajamas and suddenly feeling very self-conscious at her behavior. Clearing her throat quietly, she whispered, "Make sure you eat something decent for breakfast," before turning on her heel and quickly heading back to her room to change.

She had a lot to discuss with Mother and Father today.


	15. Chapter 15

**We are officially almost caught up to as far as I've written...dum, dum, dummm...just means I need to write faster! I'm trying to make the chapters longer, so there might be more of a delay in between updates. However, after reading many fanfics myself in the past week, I realized that I should not be holding back completed chapters that people might want to read! **

**Thank you to everyone who continues to read and review. I love hearing from you guys! The reviews seriously make my day :)**

**I still don't claim to own RWBY. I think I'll stop saying this every chapter. If something changes and I suddenly DO own RWBY, believe me, you'll be the first to know.**

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Blake woke the next morning to the sound of cheerful birds singing, as the early morning sun drifted through the white curtains of her bedroom windows. She sluggishly rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, remaining in bed as she cursed the tiny beings for being so happy this early in the morning. She immediately felt guilty at her resentment towards the joyful creatures; it was not their fault that she was in this predicament, after all.

She felt no strong desire to get out of bed this morning, especially after what had happened the night before. But she was finally able to force herself out from under the covers to get dressed and ready for the day. It was shaping up to be a very long day, as she was already exhausted from getting hardly any sleep the night before.

Blake had listened to the sound of Yang's footsteps echoing through the house as the blonde huntress had raced away from her, flinching as the front door slammed, carrying Yang out into the night. For several seconds, Blake had stood frozen as she debated whether or not she should chase after the girl. It wasn't exactly safe to run around in the middle of the night, especially dressed in her pajamas as she was. But Yang hadn't seemed very willing to speak to Blake at that moment. Chasing after her could just make things worse, if Blake was able to catch up at all.

So, with a heavy heart, Blake had slowly ascended the stairs to her bedroom and tried to go to sleep as her partner had suggested. However, she had only managed to toss and turn for several hours as she worried about where Yang might be and, more importantly, if she was ok. She had even considered waking Weiss and Ruby to have them go in search of the girl, but she couldn't bring herself to face their judgment.

Thankfully, Blake's ears had picked up the sound of the front door gently opening several hours later, as Yang had quickly padded up to her room and jumped into bed. Only then did Blake feel like she could breathe easily as she let out a sigh of relief, drifting into a restless sleep several moments later.

This morning, she was very much dreading having to face her partner. Their wrestling match last night had dragged up memories from when they were at school, for both of them. When Blake had heard Yang suggesting the same prize as always, she had wondered if she could respond in the same way she always had.

It had been easy at school to brush off the comment as Yang just being Yang. The beautiful blonde huntress-in-training was widely known to be flirtatious, so Blake had always figured that it was only natural for some of that energy to rub off on her as well. She did spend almost every waking second with the girl, so it would make sense. That had been before Yang had confessed her true feelings to Blake.

Now, in hindsight, Blake recognized that Yang had probably not been joking with her all those times at school. The fleetingly intimate touches, the exuberant compliments, her possessive nature…those had just been ways for Yang to express her feelings for Blake, without the latter catching on to her true motives.

So, had she been joking with Blake last night? Before Yang had run off, the atmosphere had felt vaguely familiar, but also somehow different. Maybe it was that Blake was now more attuned to her partner's true feelings, but the air in the simulation room had felt charged with energy in that moment.

Blake couldn't help but wonder what might have happened if Yang had actually made it through her full suggestion and Blake had managed to say yes. Would Yang have…kissed her?

She quickly shook her head as she tried to squash the butterflies that appeared in her stomach. Yang would probably never have those kind of feelings for her ever again, so there was no point in dwelling on them. She needed to focus on being Yang's friend, first. On regaining her trust and mending the broken feelings from years ago. Nothing beyond that mattered at this point.

But what might have happened…

As she finished dressing, she slowly crossed the room to stand in front of her door. Listening carefully for a few seconds, she tried to pick up any sounds of Yang talking from downstairs. Hearing nothing, she gingerly turned the doorknob and stepped hesitantly out into the corridor. Turning to her right, she saw that Yang's door was still shut; the girl must still be sleeping.

Blake heard a small sigh of relief escape her lips. At least she would be able to put off the confrontation with Yang until a little later. She padded down the staircase as quietly as she could, unintentionally nervous that any small noise she made could wake up the blonde haired girl at any second.

Once downstairs, soft noises coming from the living room caught her attention. Entering the room, she found Ruby sitting on one of the sofas watching something on the projector. Their team leader was focused intently on the images upon the screen, pausing and unpausing the muted video repeatedly.

Ruby hadn't yet noticed that anyone else was in the room, so Blake coughed lightly to announce her presence, not want to frighten the girl by sneaking up on her. Ruby jumped slightly anyway as she turned towards the new arrival.

"Oh hey, Blake!" she greeted cheerfully as she paused the video yet again. "How did you sleep?"

Blake gave a small smile and decided that it might be best not to answer completely honestly in this situation.

"Oh…you know…sometimes it's a little difficult to sleep in new places."

Ruby nodded her head knowingly as Blake continued, not wanting to delve any deeper into the subject. "So, what are you watching?"

The young girl spun back towards the screen at her question, seemingly having already forgotten that she had been watching anything at all. After taking in the image, she turned to look sheepishly back at Blake.

"I was just…um…watching some of the videos we have of the Grimm appearances so far…trying to see if I can notice anything that might help us figure out who's doing this, why, or how even. Weiss and I have gone through these videos hundreds of times already, but I thought that maybe, without her here, I could catch something…"

Blake couldn't help but smile at the young girl's admission; Ruby had always been disarmingly honest. The girl couldn't hide her true intentions if her life depended on it. In that way, she was almost exactly Blake's opposite, something Blake had grown to be quite fond of many years ago.

"Do you want an extra set of eyes to watch with you?" she offered helpfully.

"Maybe next time," Ruby began as she shook her head. "I've already been watching them for hours. I don't think that I can watch another second today without going crazy!"

Blake chuckled.

"Hey, where is Weiss, anyway?" she asked, suddenly taking in the fact that there was no heiress barking orders or stomping around the house.

"She had a meeting this morning with her parents," Ruby replied. "Something big and important, I'm guessing. It always is."

"Do her parents know you two are dating yet?" Blake asked casually. She found herself immensely curious about how serious Weiss might actually be about her relationship with Ruby. It was difficult to imagine any relationship with the icy girl progressing very easily; even friendship was difficult to accomplish with the demanding heiress. Weiss telling her parents that she and Ruby were dating would certainly be a monumental step for the reserved girl.

Ruby looked away from Blake though, blushing slightly. "No, not yet…but we haven't been officially dating for that long. And you know her relationship with her parents can be kind of difficult. Plus, it's easier for me because I only have Yang. I don't really have to consider what my family might think or do if they disapprove…"

Blake felt her eyebrows knit together at that response. While those reasons held some validity, they sounded an awful lot like explanations that _Weiss_ had given Ruby, not ones that Ruby had come up with on her own. She silently prayed that Weiss wouldn't let her obsessive need for control ruin what she had with Ruby.

However, her worry for the girl quickly dissipated as Ruby turned back to her with concerned eyes of her own.

"How are you doing, Blake? With Yang…and with everything?" the brunette asked hesitantly.

Blake sighed as she glanced away from those caring silver eyes. Ruby would ask her that this morning. She reminded herself that she should be grateful that Ruby cared enough to ask the question at all. It's not like Weiss was going to be running around anytime soon asking how Blake was feeling.

"It's been a little rocky so far," she began, "Weiss really let me have it yesterday, but I figured that was coming sooner rather than later. And Yang…Yang still needs some time."

Ruby nodded at her response, as if that was exactly what she had been expecting. "Yeah, Weiss told me that she had spoken to you. I know what her idea of 'spoke to' means. It seemed like you said enough to make her a little bit happy, at least!"

"Well that's good to hear," she said in relief. That would likely be some of the best news Blake would hear all day. Something she had said had actually made a chip in the ice queen's shell.

"What about you?" Blake tentatively asked, somewhat afraid to hear the answer. "Do you have anything you would like to yell at me? Because it's open season right now…"

The only response she received was a sigh.

"Blake…" Ruby began, "I know you. I know that I don't have anything to say that you haven't already said to yourself. And you were probably much harsher about it than I would ever be."

Blake smiled grimly at that. What Ruby said was true. She was constantly berating herself for the mistake she had made and all of the consequences that came from it, many of which she had not even been aware of until a couple days ago. She was pretty sure that even if her teammates forgave her, she would never be able to fully forgive herself.

"Well, for what it's worth, I am really sorry for what I did," Blake said. "I know that it's going to take a long time to make it up to you guys, but hopefully you're willing to let me stick around that long."

Ruby giggled. "Just try to stay on Weiss' good side then."

"I didn't know Weiss even _had _a good side!" came a sudden voice from behind them. Blake and Ruby both jumped in surprise as they whirled around to find Yang walking towards them, yawning as she stretched. Blake flushed, silently cursing herself for being snuck up on for a second time. She really needed to start using her senses more passively again.

"Good morning, Yang!" Ruby sang happily at the sight of her sister, running over to give the girl a quick hug. "How is your shoulder feeling this morning?"

Yang grinned back at the young girl as she answered. "It's feeling almost brand new, thanks to the best doctor ever! Just a little tender right now, but nothing I can't fight through." She threw some quick jabs at the air to emphasize her point.

For several seconds, Blake thought that Yang might not even acknowledge her presence in the room, until the blonde huntress finally turned towards her. Blake watched the smile on Yang's face fade a fraction of an inch as she muttered a quiet, "Good morning, Blake."

Blake looked down at the ground as she said "good morning" quietly in response. She couldn't stand to see Yang with anything less than her fully radiant smile. And maybe she was just overanalyzing the situation, but she could swear that the room had gotten slightly cooler from Yang's detached greeting.

Just then, Ruby seemed to perk up noticeably before shouting, "Weiss is home!" and dashing to the front door, leaving the two girls behind in awkward silence. After a few seconds, Yang finally turned and silently followed Ruby to the door without another look in Blake's direction.

Blake sighed and followed Yang out of the room, realizing then that there actually _had_ been a drop in temperature. But it was due to the angry heiress currently standing in the foyer, not the cold shoulder Yang was currently giving her.

Ruby was watching silently as Weiss stormed back and forth across the front entryway, waving her arms as she ranted, blasts of cold air emanating from her.

"They're just so _frustrating_. Nothing I say is ever good enough. I always have to _prove_ myself to them by some elaborate gesture. Why can't they ever just _listen_ to what I say and _believe_ me?"

As Weiss stopped stomping for a split second to throw her arms up in defeat, Ruby rushed forward and quickly grabbed one of her hands.

"What do they want you to do?" she asked, voice filled with concern over her girlfriend's plight.

As Ruby held Weiss' hand delicately, Weiss looked deeply into the girl's eyes. Blake felt the room start to warm slightly as Ruby was able to thaw some of Weiss' anger.

After several seconds, Weiss sighed, reaching out to grab Ruby's other hand so that both of their hands were now locked together.

"Nothing that I'm not willing to do," she said tenderly, seemingly oblivious to the onlookers. "They're just frustrating sometimes. But I'll tell you about it later."

Ruby nodded in complete acceptance of that answer. "How about we go make some tea?" she offered, pulling Weiss gently backwards towards the kitchen.

Weiss rolled her eyes slightly, but allowed the younger girl to pull her forward. "Only if you let me make it."

"Deal!" Ruby shouted cheerfully.

Blake watched as the two girls disappeared into the kitchen. She couldn't help feeling…jealous…of how close the two girls were. Was that what Yang and she could have had?

She shot a quick glance towards the girl standing quietly to her left, wondering what Yang was thinking as she stood there. The girl in question suddenly turned to her with a smile.

"So, what do you want to do today?"

Caught off-guard by the sudden mood change, Blake stuttered, "I-I don't know…what are our options? I thought that we had to stay here in case of calls."

Yang laughed. "Naw, we only have to be nearby. But it gets boring to be out shopping all of the time, so we normally stay here. Let me show you around the neighborhood! I can point out _all_ of the best places to eat."

Once out of the house, the two girls strolled down the sidewalk in a nearby shopping area. True to her word, Yang was pointing out _every_ restaurant that she liked to go to, as well as the ones that she didn't like and the ones that she had never been too. Blake couldn't help being very amused by the girl's fascination with every eatery in the vicinity.

What Blake was finding to be less and less amusing was the amount of attention Yang was drawing. It had always been obvious to Blake that Yang was extremely attractive, but she had completely forgotten what it was like to be out in public with the blonde haired beauty. Without even trying, Yang succeeded in turning every person's head as they passed, resulting in more than a few overly confident men approaching the girl.

The current suitor stood in front of the two girls; tall, dark hair, with striking blue eyes, he had introduced himself as Carson. While Blake would have no problem ignoring or brushing off such advances, Yang's playful personality did not lend itself to overtly shooting these men down. So Blake just glared at him as he continued speaking, making no effort to mask her displeasure at his presence.

"So…why is such a fine lady like yourself out alone today? Would you care to join me for a drink?" he asked flirtatiously, leaning forward slightly into Yang's personal space. Blake rolled her eyes; apparently she was invisible now.

"Well, I'm not alone," Yang replied with a friendly smile as she gestured towards the agitated Faunus girl. "My friend, Blake here is new to the area and I'm showing her around."

Carson shot a surprised look at Blake, suddenly realizing that she really had been walking _with_ Yang, not just near her.

"She's a Faunus," he stated in shock upon taking in Blake's ears. Blake couldn't help rolling her eyes a second time as her ears twitched in agitation. This guy was _really _slow.

"Of course she is!" Yang replied without a moment's hesitation. "You see…" she began, leaning in close to him as she stood on her tiptoes to whisper suggestively in his ear, "I find the Faunus to be _exceptionally_ sexy."

Yang giggled as she stepped away from the boy, his mouth hanging open in astonishment as he stared at Blake with wide eyes. Blake could feel her face heating up from Yang's comment, but returned Carson's gaze steadily as he began sputtering.

"B-but the Faunus are…they're…well, they're Faunus!"

Blake felt her ears twitch at his comment. He was implying that a Faunus could never date someone like Yang Xiao Long. That only a _human_ could be worthy of her affection. Well…Blake wouldn't exactly consider herself to be worthy of dating her, but maybe some other Faunus would have a chance in the future. Yang had seemed to get along quite well with Sun, after all.

Yang simply laughed at the sputtering remark as she began to walk backwards away from the boy, motioning for Blake to follow her as she replied jovially, "There's just _something_ about them that's so _alluring, _don't you think? Maybe it's the ears." She finished with a wink before blowing a kiss back towards the dumbfounded boy.

Blake felt a sharp jab of jealousy at the gesture, even though she knew that Yang was only doing it in jest. She couldn't understand how Yang made it look so easy to flirt with creeps like that.

As they turned around to continue walking through a beautiful outdoor shopping plaza, Yang sighed heavily, "Ugh, I hate guys like that."

"Well, most people still aren't as tolerant of Faunus as you are," Blake began. "Especially the suggestion of Faunus-human relationships…"

"Oh no, not that," Yang said, waving a hand dismissively, "I mean guys who act like they can't see you. It's like saying a tree is beautiful and ignoring the sunrise right behind it."

Blake felt her face flush at the compliment. But before she was able to say 'thank you,' Yang had already moved on to another subject.

"Ooh look! This is my favorite spot!"

Turning her attention back to their surroundings, Blake realized that they were standing in an open, circular area positioned around a large, ornate three tier fountain. Small black tables with matching chairs and umbrellas were placed strategically about the area, where shoppers were sitting, chatting or eating food from one of the nearby restaurants.

"I like to sit here and people watch," Yang continued as she walked over to a nearby empty table, pulling out a chair and plopping down into it. Blake followed her lead, sitting down across from her and turning her attention to the people walking nearby. She watched as couples and families passed, engrossed in their own conversations. She could see why Yang liked it here. It was cathartic to watch the shoppers, each lost in their own world and own problems.

Her attention was suddenly drawn to a small girl who was hesitantly approaching them. With her blonde hair tied back in pigtails, she couldn't have been more than seven years old. Blake watched her curiously as she crept slowly closer.

"Excuse me…" the young girl finally spoke, voice hardly more than a whisper. "A-are you Yang Xiao Long? The huntress?" The girl looked at Yang with wide eyes, nervously waiting for her answer.

Yang smiled warmly at her, responding happily, "Yes, I am! And who might you be?"

Having her suspicions confirmed, the young girl broke into a huge smile, clasping her hands happily together in front of her. "I knew it! I knew you were! My name is Violet. Can I have your autograph? Please?" She thrust out a pen and crumpled napkin as her words finished tumbling out.

Blake smiled as Yang chuckled softly.

"Of course, Violet," she replied softly as she knelt down from her chair directly in front of the small girl. Taking the pen and paper from Violet's small hands, she set the napkin down on her thigh and began writing, speaking out loud:

"To Violet, my biggest fan. May you never lose the courage you displayed today. Love, Yang Xiao Long."

Violet squealed in happiness as Yang handed the napkin back to her.

"I want to be a huntress just like you when I grow up!" she nearly shouted, excitedly bouncing up and down while clutching her new treasure.

Blake felt her heart warmed from the entire exchange. Yang was being exceptionally sweet to the young girl, who was practically bubbling over in her idolization of the blonde brawler. She couldn't help thinking that Yang would make a really good mother, if she ever decided to have children.

Violet suddenly looked over at her, causing Blake to freeze and pray that the girl wouldn't notice her ears. Her wish was not granted as she watched the little girl's eyes lock on to her most prominent feature. She struggled to keep her ears still, but found that they were trying to take on a life of their own under the small girl's intent gaze.

Yang quickly noticed where Violet was staring.

"Hey," she said, capturing the little girl's attention again with a big smile. "Want to meet my new partner?" She gestured towards Blake with her head. "Her name is Blake!"

Violet looked at Blake again, confusion emanating from her. Her eyes never leaving Blake's ears, she whispered sideways to Yang, "But…she's a Faunus…"

Blake couldn't stop her ears from flicking at that comment, which caused the young girl to scoot marginally closer to Yang.

Yang merely chuckled happily and replied, "Of course she is! She's great too. One of the best huntresses in all of Vale."

"But…they're supposed to be mean…" Violet continued in a hushed voice, as if afraid of what Blake might do if she overheard her.

Laughing again, Yang leaned in close to the little girl and whispered back, "Yeah, they are supposed to be, but let me tell you a little secret…some of them are actually really friendly."

Before Blake had the chance to react, Yang reached out and pulled Blake down from her chair to the ground beside them. Placing one hand on the back of Blake's head, Yang gently but forcefully pushed her head down slightly towards the girl as she said delightedly, "Plus, look at how cute these ears are! Go ahead, you can touch them."

Hearing this, Blake immediately stiffened. She never let anyone touch her ears, partly because they were very sensitive, but also because she didn't want to be viewed as a pet that people could…pet. However, she didn't want to risk scaring Violet by jerking away, so remained as still as possible, eyes staring at the pavement.

After several seconds of waiting, she finally felt Violet's hand brush her ears quickly, causing her to flinch slightly at the abruptness of it. She heard a small giggle before Violet's hand appeared again, this time petting her ears more steadily, tickling slightly as she pulled gently at one of her ears between her thumb and forefinger. Blake had to use all of her willpower to keep her ears still as the little girl kept tickling her.

Violet continued giggling as she exclaimed, "They're so soft!" Blake smiled, realizing that the girl was practically squealing in delight. She heard Yang start laughing as well as she removed her hand from the back of Blake's head.

Suddenly, Violet's small hand was replaced by Yang's as the blonde huntress' warm fingers expertly ran themselves around Blake's ears, scratching slightly in all the right places. Blake closed her eyes with a small gasp as ecstasy flowed within her at the contact. She heard a low rumble escape her chest before she swiftly cut it off with a blush. And, just like that, Yang's hand was gone.

Blake looked up and saw that Violet was now beaming at her, holding out her pen and napkin once more.

"Can I have your autograph, too?"

She felt her jaw drop open in surprise before she managed to respond, "S-sure you can!" She took the items from the girl gingerly and quickly signed the first thing that came to mind, 'Violet, may all your wishes come true. Blake Belladonna.'

As she returned the objects to Violet, the little girl held them closely to her chest before exclaiming, "Thank you both so much!" And with that, she turned and ran back to where her mom was still sitting and waiting for her.

Blake and Yang watched as Violet ran up to her mom, thrusting the napkin into her hands as she waved her arms around, jumping up and down in excitement. Blake smiled as she watched the little girl making hand gestures as if she was petting Blake's ears again.

"Sometimes the smallest things can change a person's entire perspective," Yang spoke up from beside her. "She could grow up without fearing the Faunus, just because you let her touch your ears."

She turned to Yang and found the blonde's caring, lilac eyes locked onto her own. She flushed under the power of the girl's gaze and quickly looked away.

"Thank you, Yang," she said quietly. "That was…one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced…"

She replayed the scene again in her mind. The little girl had gone from scared to thrilled in a matter of seconds, all from touching her ears. It was amazing to see someone lose their fear of her just like that. It was something that she had never witnessed before. And she would never have had that experience if not for Yang.

"Sure thing, partner," Yang responded casually, as if it weren't a huge deal at all. "So what do you think about heading back to the house now?"

Blake nodded in approval as they turned to head back the way they'd come.

After walking in silence for a few minutes, Yang finally broke the quiet as she added cheerfully, "By the way, I think that Ruby will be really upset to hear that you ate her bag of marbles. She really loved those."

Blake instantly felt her face heat up. She had really been hoping that Yang hadn't heard that.


End file.
